Essay on The Minimum Wage Must Be Increased - 1575 Words

No family gets rich from earning the minimum wage. In fact, the current minimum wage does not even lift a family out of poverty. -- Jon Corzine Many people can think back and remember what it was like to put in an application for that first job and be presented with a position. Taking that position represents adulthood and is a very exciting time for a young person. All first jobs usually start with a minimum wage. Minimum wage is the minimum an employer has to pay an unskilled worker based on the regulations set forth by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that was originally established in 1938. As people think back about their first jobs they can also remember what the minimum wage was when they took that position.†¦show more content†¦The FLSA regulates this to ensure that the employers are paying fair wages to their employee’s. FLSA also regulates hours worked by an employee to ensure that an employer is paying time and one half for all hours worked past forty in a work week. Minimum wages are different in some states. Many states also have state minimum wage laws. Below you will see an example of how state law minimum wage and federal minimum wage compares. Consolidated State Minimum Wage Update Table (Effective Date: 01/01/2010) Federal MW = Federal MW of $7.25 Federal MW No MW Required AK – 7.75 AZ AR – 6.25 AL CA – 8.00 DE CO – 7.24 LA CT – 8.25 FL GA – 5.15 MS DC – 8.25 HI MN – 6.15 SC IL – 8.00 IA WY – 5.15 TN MA – 8.00 ID ME – 7.50 IN MI – 7.40 KS NV – 7.55 KY NM – 7.50 MD OH – 7.30 MO OR – 8.30 MT RI – 7.40 NE VT – 8.06 NH WA – 8.55 NJ NC ND OK PA SD TX UT VA WV WI 14 STATES PLUS DC 26 STATES 5 STATES 5 STATES States such as Tennessee and Alabama do not have a minimum wage law within the state, so workers would get the $7.25 in these states as a starting wage. States such as California and New Mexico have both the federal and state wage laws. This means the worker would be entitled to the higher of the two wages as a starting wage. Looking at the visual above there are some states that pay below minimum wage. Twenty six states follow the minimumShow MoreRelated The Minimum Wage Must Be Increased Essay1488 Words   |  6 Pagesends meet like higher wages. †¦ And to everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.† –President Obama, State of the Union address, Jan. 20, 2014 In the 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10Read MoreThe Effects Of Minimum Wage On The Economy1391 Words   |  6 PagesThe Effects Minimum Wage on the Economy The controversial topic about increasing minimum wage is debated countless times over the years. Minimum wage is the lowest wage an employer can pay an employee permitted by law. 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Many minimum wage workers must supplem ent their income with taxpayer-funded federal assistance programs in addition to working beyond the standard 40 hour work week. There is an economical and ethical imperative to increase the pay of low-income workers, and this can most effectively be done by raising the federally established minimum wage. The federal government assumed responsibility for ensuring wage fairness by implementing