The minimum wage is a really hot issue at the moment and with the wage about to increase at the turn of the new year, here's a couple reasons why this will be bad for our economy:
1. Opportunity:
While the minimum wage increase seems really nice and would be able to help out a lot of families with lower incomes, this idea is really wrong! All this change in policy would do is make employers have to use robots to do people's work, and/or lay off a lot of workers because small business cannot afford to pay their employees that much.
2. The 1% will not be effected:
There is a lot of buzz going around that this increase will "stick it to the man" and serve as an equalizer to struggling families. This is crazy logic as the people at the top of these big corporations aren't going to take a pay cut, they are just going to use loopholes and tax breaks in order to avoid it. Trying to raise the minimum is the wrong way to approach this problem.
3. EVERYTHING is going to cost more:
You got that right, everything is going to cost more. Your happy meal, your bag of apples, that cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee that keeps "America going". When companies have to pay their workers more, it's common sense that they will increase the costs of their products in order to not take a loss.
4. The Law of Demand:
The Law of Demand in economics is a commonly used rule that has never been disproven. The law states that when something costs more to produce, less will be used. This law very clearly shows why an increase in the minimum wage will lead to more workers being laid off and the costs of our products increasing. a Minimum wage increase will inversely correlate will millions of workers being laid off.
5. Internship
The internship is seen as one of the most valuable assets a student can have when trying to gain experience for a career. In fact, this is seen as such an important task, that most internships are unpaid. This is mutually beneficial for both student and employer as the student gains valuable skills needed for his/her career, and the employer can offer work to those who need experience without having to pay them finances they do not have. If the minimum wage increase goes to 15 dollars per hour, this is completely undermining the value of experience. Why would a student want to go to school when he/she can make more quickly by working at McDonald's? Also, if students are required to have paid internships, there will be not merely as many available and only select students will have the opportunity to actually experience one. This does not seem like a good solution.
6. Inequality Counter-Claim
Lastly, one of the biggest counter claims to my argument would be that a higher minimum is needed because of the racial inequality there is in the job market. I would agree this is a problem, but a higher minimum wage is not a solution. As i have explained, all this does is decrease opportunity and promote laziness to settle for low class jobs. What we need to do is reevaluate our educational programs in order to give minorities and underprivileged children a fair chance at succeeding. In this country, we are capitalists. Capitalism is an unequal system. But, capitalism stresses on the importance of equality of opportunity. It is impossible for everyone to be wealthy and successful. But it is more probable that we can give everyone a fair chance to getting there.
In conclusion, the minimum wage hike is only going to hurt families instead of help them. Unless you want to spend 10 dollars for a dollar menu item at McDonald's, you had better rethink your position on this issue.
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