[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/ID\/59\/will-raising-the-minimum-wage-ease-poverty#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/ID\/59\/will-raising-the-minimum-wage-ease-poverty","headline":"Will Raising the Minimum Wage Ease Poverty?","name":"Will Raising the Minimum Wage Ease Poverty?","description":"One of the biggest debates circulating the United States right now is whether or not raising the minimum wage will have any discernible effect on poverty, particularly those who depend on food stamps.","datePublished":"2018-07-06","dateModified":"2018-07-30","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/author\/admin#Person","name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/author\/admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26111862ca029071a00a76fae48c51b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26111862ca029071a00a76fae48c51b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"FoodStamps.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/FS_Logo-2.png","width":100,"height":100},"url":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/ID\/59\/will-raising-the-minimum-wage-ease-poverty","about":["News"],"wordCount":576,"keywords":["59"],"articleBody":"One of the biggest debates circulating the United States right now is whether or not raising the minimum wage will have any discernible effect on poverty, particularly those who depend on food stamps.YES:\u00a0Minimum wage\u00a0was last raised in 2009 to $7.25\/hour (from $6.55), but hasn’t matched inflation. The gap between the two most basic and essential ways of measuring the cost of living has meant that not only do the poor stay poorer, but there are more bumped into that group. The current minimum wage needs to be around $10-something an hour to match inflation, giving workers in those sectors the ability to reach a baseline of living.Further, the vast majority of\u00a0minimum wage employees\u00a0are over 20 years of age (an average age of 35), with more than a quarter of them having children. If the minimum wage were to be raised, the first positive impact would be seen with families, not with teenagers. This would affect 28 million workers, or almost 10% of the population, and make huge inroads into fixing the poverty problem.NO: One of the biggest arguments against raising the minimum wage is that big-name companies\u2014the ones who collectively employ the majority of minimum wage employees\u2014will \u201cstrike back\u201d to ensure they still get the same percentage of profits. A lateral example of this has been seen with\u00a0Staples issuing a memo\u00a0to managers that part-time employees are not to be scheduled for more than 25 hours, as full-time employees (30+ hours\/week) are eligible for employer-paid health insurance.It also wouldn’t solve the problem of\u00a0job and product growth, as employees need to produce more to merit the increased wages, companies must earn more than they spend, and raising the minimum wage would cause companies to turn to fewer, higher-skilled employees.Lastly, raising the\u00a0minimum wage\u00a0doesn’t address the economic problem of career\u2014not job\u2014growth in the United States. Simplifying it greatly, the middle class has been eroded by padding the upper class (causing them to shrink at the same time) and increasing the gulf between poor and rich. The problems are far more complex, of course, but paying people middle-class wages for lower-class jobs is akin to paying someone a surgeon\u2019s salary to give flu shots. The work just doesn\u2019t merit the salary.COMPROMISE: Solving the minimum wage debate so that as many people on both sides as possible are satisfied is neither a simple issue nor something that will happen quickly.\u00a0 Adding complexity to the problem is the United States has just such a large population, ensuring each and every citizen is well taken care of is a near-impossibility. \u00a0But one possible solution is for any president to enact bills and laws with teeth such that large corporations have to divest at least some energy into the maintenance of their employees. Another is to look to the future and see what kind of jobs can be secured in America: manufacturing has clearly gone to the East, and so \u201cthinking\u201d jobs can replace that, and\u00a0create the middle-class\u00a0that was lost after the auto boom."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ID","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/\/ID\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"59","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/\/ID\/\/59\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Will Raising the Minimum Wage Ease Poverty?","item":"https:\/\/foodstamps.org\/Blog\/ID\/59\/will-raising-the-minimum-wage-ease-poverty#breadcrumbitem"}]}]