Should The Minimum Wage Be Raised from Its Current $7.25 Per Hour?
Compose your thesis statement:
Proponents of raising the minimum wage per hour indicate that increasing the minimum wage will eliminate wage inequality, foster economic growth, and create more jobs.
Topic sentence 1:
Increasing the minimum wage has both positive and negative effects on the economy.
Topic sentence 2:
House of Representatives passed a resolution on July 18, 2019, to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour (Romich & Hill, 2018), but the bill died in the Senate.
Topic sentence 3:
The Economic Policy Institute indicates that increasing the minimum wage would benefit 39 percent of Black and Latino women, 38 percent of African American workers, 33 percent of Latino workers, and 32 percent of women workers (Woo et al., 2022).
Identify, summarize, and align source for Reason #1: Minimum wage and monetary policy.
Source #1: Glover, A., & Mustre-del-Río, J. (2021). What Happens When the Minimum Wage Rises? It Depends on Monetary Policy. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Review, 106, 5-24.
• Summarize source in 1-2 sentences: Glover and Mustre-del-Río (2021) argue that the economy will experience positive and negative changes when the minimum wage rises. The source indicates that the Congress members made an attempt in 2021 to rise the minimum wage.
• Describe how this source supports Reason #1: The source supports reason one since it shows that increasing the minimum wage has been long overdue due to financial struggles. The source shows that the Congress is concerned and working towards the increase.
Identify, summarize, and align source for Reason #2: Benefits of raising the minimum wage.
Source #2: Romich, J., & Hill, H. D. (2018). Coupling a federal minimum wage hike with public investments to make work pay and reduce poverty. The Russell Sage Foundation journal of the social sciences: RSF, 4(3), 22.
• Summarize source in 1-2 sentences: The source shows that increasing the minimum wage will improve the standard of living for over 17 million people and elevate over 1.3 million out of the poverty line by 2025.
• Describe how this source supports Reason #2: The source supports reason #2 since it demonstrates that the changes will have a positive impact on the economy.
Identify, summarize, and align source for Reason #3: Negative effects of raising the minimum wage
Source #3: Woo, J., Shook, J., Goodkind, S., Ballentine, K., Engel, R., Kim, S., & Petracchi, H. (2022). Do wage increases help? Wage increases and material hardships among low-wage hospital workers. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 1-14.
• Summarize source in 1-2 sentences: The source poses a question on whether increasing the wages help. The source highlights the challenges relating to low-wage hospital workers. It shows that the rise will have negative effects on the economy.
• Describe how this source supports Reason #3: The source supports reason #3 by providing evidence on the effects, especially among hospital workers.
A persuasive essay presents a debatable topic. State the opposing view to your position.
Increasing the wages will make it difficult for low-skilled workers to find jobs. Rising wages will affect the low-income communities since it will trigger inflation.
Define your audience. The target audience is the Congress men and women and members of the Senate, the president, and policy makers in the country. The target audience is involved in making laws that can increase the minimum wage.
In the conclusion, you will restate the main argument. What is the goal of your essay? Write a statement that communicates the outcome or change you would like to see based on your argument.
The goal of the essay is to discuss the negative and positive outcomes of raising the minimum wage from$7.25 to $15 per hour. The expected outcome is for the Congress and Senate to pass a resolution to increase the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage will enhance the economy, boost the living standards, and lift millions out of poverty.
References
Glover, A., & Mustre-del-Río, J. (2021). What Happens When the Minimum Wage Rises? It Depends on Monetary Policy. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Review, 106, 5-24.
Romich, J., & Hill, H. D. (2018). Coupling a federal minimum wage hike with public investments to make work pay and reduce poverty. The Russell Sage Foundation journal of the social sciences: RSF, 4(3), 22.
Woo, J., Shook, J., Goodkind, S., Ballentine, K., Engel, R., Kim, S., & Petracchi, H. (2022). Do wage increases help? Wage increases and material hardships among low-wage hospital workers. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 1-14.
