minimum wage

minimum wage

According to U.S. Department of Labor, 66,000 workers in the state of Georgia were paid the minimum wage of $5.15 per hour or less in the year of 2005(U.S. Department of Labor). Now in the year of 2007, drastic increases in inflation, gas prices, retail prices, and overall increases in the cost of living, has catalyzed the conflict of whether or not minimum wage should be increased. Minimum wage is the least amount of money that an employer may pay their employees for an hour of labor and was created to reflect changes in the cost of living. So, now that it has become apparent that the cost of living has increased, Georgia is still neglecting to take any immediate action towards the increase in minimum wage. To reflect the changes in the cost of living, Georgia should begin to take action and increase the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to at least $7.25.
Our nation is considered the richest on earth, yet many Americans are living below poverty level. One reason behind this problem is that the current minimum wage has not kept up with the increasing cost of livelihood. Americans need to earn a wage that would help them stay out of poverty, and therefore decreasing the need for welfare assistance. In an article entitled, NINE YEARS OF NEGLECT: Federal Minimum Wage Remains Unchanged for Ninth Straight Year, Falls to Lowest Level in More Than Half a Century, authors Jared Bernstein and Isaac Shapiro state that the “ federal minimum wage has remained at $5.15 an hour since September 1, 1997.   So as of September 1, 2006, the minimum wage will have remained the same for nine

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years, while the costs of medical care, gasoline, and other necessities have grown considerably(Bernstein & Shapiro par. 1).”   This article unveils the truth that their needs to be an immediate change in the federal minimum wage, because within the past decade there has been a great increase in the cost of living while the minimum wage has stayed the same. This article continues by...