Should There Be a Minimum Wage?
#6116·Dennis HackethalOP, 4 minutes ago·AI-assistedRaising the minimum wage would lift the incomes of millions of working families. For those families, it could mean the difference between groceries and the food bank, or between paying rent and being evicted.
Barack Obama made this argument in his 2013 State of the Union address, saying that raising the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour would “raise the incomes of millions of working families.”
Raising the minimum wage would lift the incomes of millions of working families.
A higher minimum wage can lower incomes instead. Employers who can’t afford the higher wage have to let some workers go, and those workers then make less than before ($0), not more.
Raising the minimum wage would lift the incomes of millions of working families. For those families, it could mean the difference between groceries and the food bank, or between paying rent and being evicted.
Barack Obama made this argument in his 2013 State of the Union address, saying that raising the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour would “raise the incomes of millions of working families.”
Split off the factual claim that raising the minimum wage would lift millions of families’ incomes into its own idea.
A minimum wage reduces poverty. Nobody who works full time should be poor, yet a full-time minimum-wage earner with two kids still falls below the poverty line. Raising the minimum wage would lift the incomes of millions of working families.
Barack Obama made this argument in his 2013 State of the Union address, declaring that “no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.”
Nobody who works full time should be poor. Yet a full-time minimum-wage earner with two kids still falls below the poverty line, so the minimum wage should be raised.
Barack Obama made this argument in his 2013 State of the Union address, declaring that “no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.”
Added a blockquote of the passage I’m criticizing.
Why shouldn’t someone who works full time be poor? This idea assumes that working full time entitles a person to a certain income, but on what grounds? I could work full time doing something nobody wants to pay me for. Why would the hours I put in entitle me to pay above a government-set floor?
Nobody who works full time should be poor
Why shouldn’t someone who works full time be poor? This idea assumes that working full time entitles a person to a certain income, but on what grounds? I could work full time doing something nobody wants to pay me for. Why would the hours I put in entitle me to pay above a government-set floor?
#6110·Dennis HackethalOP, 18 minutes ago·AI-assistedA minimum wage reduces poverty. Nobody who works full time should be poor, yet a full-time minimum-wage earner with two kids still falls below the poverty line. Raising the minimum wage would lift the incomes of millions of working families.
Barack Obama made this argument in his 2013 State of the Union address, declaring that “no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.”
Why shouldn’t someone who works full time be poor? This idea assumes that working full time entitles a person to a certain income, but on what grounds? I could work full time doing something nobody wants to pay me for. Why would the hours I put in entitle me to pay above a government-set floor?
A minimum wage reduces poverty. Nobody who works full time should be poor, yet a full-time minimum-wage earner with two kids still falls below the poverty line. Raising the minimum wage would lift the incomes of millions of working families.
Barack Obama made this argument in his 2013 State of the Union address, declaring that “no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.”
Minimum wage laws are defended on many grounds: reducing poverty, offsetting employers’ bargaining power, boosting consumer demand, cutting reliance on welfare, and more.
This discussion collects every argument for the minimum wage, one per idea, so each can be criticized on its own merits. If a pro argument is missing, post it as a new idea; if you think a criticism fails, reply to it.