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Halle Campbell
November 24, y

Thiele
English 101
The Federal Minimum Wage Increase
Earning a living is hard enough with a college degree because lets face it, people cost a
lot of money. But can you imagine working for what you have with an hourly wage of just seven
dollars and twenty five cents per hour? Your face probably squinted up trying to figure out how
you would pay your bills with no money in your bank account, because you went grocery
shopping that day. The last time the federal minimum wage was raised was six years ago in
2009, when the government raised the hourly wage from six fifty five an hour to seven twenty
five an hour. While this was a step in the right direction, in order to provide a living wage the
government needs to raise the minimum wage a great deal higher than seven twenty five per
hour. There are nine hundred thousand families that could be brought up from beneath the
poverty line if the government increased the minimum wage to ten dollars and ten cents per hour,
which is what President Obama has been pushing for, the whole time he has been in office.
Minimum wage workers who are trying to support themselves have poor healthcare, indecent
housing, and are living in poverty stricken conditions. These conditions and appearances make it
hard for the public to take pity and help out the poor, leaving them helpless and in need of
protection. The U.S. federal government needs to raise the minimum wage to ten dollars and ten
cents per hour to protect the working poor, and to change the publics opinion of the working
poor.

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Hard working people should not have to be living in poverty and struggling to make ends
meet. Staurt Appelbaum states in his paper, Its Time to Raise the Minimum Wage, that often
times, minimum wage workers are working several more hours than the regular work week, but
if people are hard working, they should be rewarded for their labor, and not scrutinized for it
(Appelbaum). Some people think that minimum wage earners have just chosen the easy way
out of maybe not going to college, but there are many reasons that workers end up where they
do. The public has a poor perception of minimum wage workers, that often coincide with the
words lazy, helpless, or its their own fault, when jobs such as waiting tables can be very
hard work, and the workers are not getting enough credit for what they do. According to Jeffrey
A. Will in his work, The Dimensions of Poverty: Public Perceptions of the Deserving Poor,
surveys based on the deserving poor proved that most Americans do not know what constitutes a
person as legitimately poor and deserving of government support. These jobs are typically
tough on the body as well. Standing up all day, lifting heavy things, and cleaning are everyday
tasks that are not so bad, but when a worker does it all day, it can cause health problems and
chronic pain. Minimum wage workers have not earned the reputation they get, and should not be
struggling to make ends meet when they are running themselves ragged to make enough money
for this months bills.
It is a necessity to have a roof over your head, and a place to call home. But many
workers can not provide for their families needs with such a small wage, and are forced to have
poor living conditions. According to the NLIHC, the housing costs are two point seven times
greater than the federal minimum wage right now. How can we expect people to afford decent

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housing, when the numbers fundamentally dont match up? Not only are the housing costs
expensive now, but every year they are increasing. In 2014, the housing costs had increased over
fourteen percent from what they were in 2009 (NLIHC). When housing costs have increased that
much in just six years, but the minimum wage hasnt followed the trend, it is clear that the
federal government is not watching out for the working class in America. We need to give the
working class something to hold onto, because right now they are stretched too thin. This study
also discovered that in order to afford decent housing (while not spending more than thirty
percent of their paycheck on housing, in order to save money for food and electric etc.) workers
would need to make over twenty five dollars per hour (NLIHC). Housing is a basic need, but the
truth is hundreds of thousands of Americans are not able to come home at night at all, or to a
decent place to live. Although ten dollars and ten cents per hour would not solve all the worlds
problems, it would give a better quality of life to a significant amount of people.
It is easy to be afraid of what you dont understand, and sometimes that is the only way
you can look at the situation. But if people would do their research and read up on current
events, we would not have as many misconceptions as we do now. At first proposals may sound
confusing and worthless, but that is not the case. A common misunderstanding, is that raising the
minimum wage would result in massive job loss all across the country. However, raising the
minimum wage would only lose about five hundred thousand jobs, out of the seventy five point
three million minimum wage jobs in the country (Hanson). As you can see, there are many
people who would unfortunately lose their jobs, but it is a very small fraction when you see how
many people are earning minimum wage. In addition, most states are already paying their

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workers over minimum wage, so this would effect an even less amount of people. For example,
the minimum wage in Seattle, Washington is already around fifteen dollars, which is seven
dollars and seventy five cents above federal minimum wage (Hanson).
Back in April, 2015, Seattles governor put into place the Seattle Minimum Wage
Ordinance, which says that the minimum wage in all of Seattle will be fifteen dollars within the
next three years ($15 Minimum Wage). Some business owners and companies are already paying
their workers fifteen dollars per hour. According to Forbes, we are already seeing the effects of
the rise of minimum wage, between January 2014 and December 2014 unemployment
decreased by 17.46%(Worstall). Seattle is proving that it is possible to improve the quality of
life of the working poor, while also improving the economy and unemployment rates. Based on
one citys strides, we can assume that the rest of the country will follow in their footsteps.
Another myth, is everyone that is existing in poverty is deserving of the position they are
in. The truth is that there is a vast difference between the poor and working poor. Working poor
are the people who are working hard to pick themselves up after something terrible has
happened, or they missed an opportunity, and are trying to catch up with the rest of the world.
Jeannette Wicks-Lim describes this group of people in her essay, The Working Poor, as
those living in households with annual incomes at two point four times the official poverty line
or less. The working poor are those who have been active in the work force in some point in the
year(Wicks-Lim 18). They are determined, have strong work ethics, and often have someone
encouraging them, like kids or family. The working poor are those who have hit a wall, but
arent doing much to help themselves. They do not try to rise to the occasion, or think that they

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can not do anything about their situation. The general public has a tendency to mash together
these groups, and it is not fair to the hardworking poor. We as a people need to recognize that
there is a distinct difference between the deserving poor and the undeserving poor.
Raising the minimum wage is a tricky question, but one with a firm answer. The federal
government needs to raise the minimum wage in order to protect the families in poverty, provide
decent housing and healthcare to all Americans. The publics perception of the working poor is
terrible. They believe that they are bottom feeders, they are taking the easy way out, that they do
not deserve a pity vote. But they do need your help, and they are working as hard as they can.
The working poor needs someone to represent them as a people, and who better than the U.S.
government? This is the best choice for taking care of the majority of people in the country. We
owe a step forward to all the minimum wage workers who have been struggling to make ends
meet.

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Works Cited
Appelbaum, Stuart, and Lynne Fox. "It's Time to Raise the Minimum Wage." Washington
Jewish Week: 22. Jun 12 2014. ProQuest. Web. 18 Oct. 2015. This article is not a
scholarly text, but it provides vital information that you could usually only get
by talking
to a source. It is a well written article that summarizes the effects of minimum
wages on
even small families. Stressing the effects of poverty on families, this article
uses accurate
facts to convey its argument: a raise in minimum wage is well over due. I
can use this text to back up my argument about minimum wage with direct and personal quotes,
and in
describing the quality of life many Americans are suffering in.
Hanson, Andrew, and Zackary Hawley. "The $10.10 Minimum Wage Proposal: An
Evaluation Across States." Journal of Labor Research 35.4 (2014): 323-45. ProQuest.
Web. 14 Oct. 2015. This source evaluates all possible effects of raising the federal
minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. The authors compare and contrast their research
with
other authors research, and debates which is right and why. They go through all the
benefits of raising the wage, and then compare the benefits with all of the negative
outcomes. The authors also calculate how many jobs would be lost if this transition
took
place. This source is credible because it is a peer reviewed, scholarly journal, and the
authors performed all of their research themselves, complete with tables and graphs.
This
source was different from my other research, because this article provides cold facts.
Not
just hypothetical situations, but formulas, facts, and answers to common questions.
Although this article doesnt have opinions from the working class people, it
provided a
unique asset to my essay. I plan to use this source to cite facts and formulas for
my
refutation argument. While I do not agree with all the points made in this journal, it
will
prove that the U.S. government should not raise the federal minimum wage.
McCarrier, Kelly P., et al. "Associations Between Minimum Wage Policy And Access To
Health Care: Evidence From The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System,
1996--2007." American Journal Of Public Health 101.2 (2011): 359-367. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. This source collected data from minimum
wage
workers from all fifty states, with a goal to find out the correlation between
minimum
wage workers and decent healthcare. The results were conclusive: higher
minimum wage
states had significantly reduced chances of un-provided healthcare.
Although there was
not a correlation between high minimum wage and being insured,
the more you were paid
the less you needed medical attention. This source was very well
written, and gave me a
serious new perspective on my argument to raise minimum wage.
Everyone wants to be
healthy, and this article gives me proof. I plan to use this new
information to support my
argument, and give my readers the harsh truth that the
working poor is facing.
"NLIHC Releases 2015 Housing Wage Report." Journal Of Housing & Community
Development 72.3 (2015): 3. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Oct. 2015. This
source
researches the price of decent housing, and how much money you would have

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to earn per
hour to be able to afford your housing. This study shows that you would have
to make
about ten more dollars per hour than the current minimum wage, to be living in
a decent
two bedroom apartment. This source also provides clear facts such as, The
federal
minimum wage has not increased since 2009. This source is credible
because it is from a
scholarly, peer reviewed journal, that has the authority to release
reports. All of the facts
came from a study that the authors made themselves; they did
not use anyone elses data.
This article is current and very useful. I plan to use this in my
essay to support my
argument that the minimum wage should be increased. This
will provide a different look at
my argument because it shows what the working poor is
living in currently, and what they
would have to earn to be living in a decent living space.
Wicks-Lim, Jeannette. "The Working Poor." New Labor Forum (Sage Publications Inc.)
21.3 (2012): 17-25. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Oct. 2015. This article is
another source that describes the gaps between the earnings and spendings of the
average
minimum wage worker. This source addresses the possible increase in wages,
and
strongly encourages it with facts to back up the argument. This is a credible,
scholarly
article that is relevant to my paper. I plan on using this text to add credibility
and a
different opinion to my argument.
$15 Minimum Wage." Mayor Murray. N.p., 06 May 2014. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.
While this website is not scholarly, but it gave me direct insight on the change of
minimum wage Seattle has put into place. I plan to use this in describing my example
of
how Seattles minimum wage has been effecting the people.
Will, Jeffrey A. "The Dimensions of Poverty: Public Perceptions of the Working Poor." (n.d.): n.
pag. Social Science Research. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. This is a scholarly article that described
surveys that have been taken to portray the attitude of the public towards the
working/nonworking poor. I used this article to back up my argument that the public needs to
help out the working poor more often.
Worstall, Tim. We Are Seeing the Effects of Seattle's $15 an Hour Minimum Wage."
Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2015. This site is not a scholarly article,
but it is a common website in reference to business and finance. I used this article as an
example to backup my argument, because it talks about how Seattles minimum wage has
effected its population.