Proposal for argumentative essay on the insufficiency of minimum wage today

Proposal for argumentative essay on the insufficiency of minimum wage today

Origins

Fiscal experts have regularly pointed out that a full-time living wage job is insufficient to support basic needs in many places. In the US the situation is extremely perilous with most counties unable to support a minimum wage lifestyle. It is for this reason that I am interested in the topic. In my previous paper on the topic titled “Why minimum wage isn’t enough to compensate for the standard of living in many places”, I highlighted statistics that show the adverse effects of prevalent minimum wages. On the one hand, low minimum wages make life extremely difficult for low income earners who literally slave everyday just to put feed themselves; while on the other hand low wages are unattractive to too many able-bodied citizens who stay out of key jobs and become dependent on welfare, becoming a burden on the state. This subject is a pet topic for me because it is related to work I have already done in this class.

Argument

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a US resident working full time on a living wage job can’t afford a rented home nearly everywhere in the US. If that resident is looking for a decent one-bedroom house to rent, there are only 12 counties across the entire country, mostly in the rural Midwest, that he or she can take up. Worse, there is nowhere in the entire country that such residents can rent two bedroom apartments, not the metropolises, cities or even rural zones. This classification is based on the 30 per cent federal-defined threshold that an income earner should spend on shelter. This means low income earners in the US must sleep in homeless shelters, cluster together with other low income earners in crowded houses or rely on richer friends and/or relatives to provide them with decent housing. In the essay I will have to justify why these situations are untenable and what the possible long term effects would be should they remain uncertified.

However, conventional employer wisdom has it that an increase in the minimum wage as is bound to eat into the earnings of businesses and lead to job losses through lay-offs. However, several studies show that the living wage increase of 1992 from $4.25 to $5.05 in New Jersey had the opposite effect in restaurants across the state as employment actually increased by almost 10 per cent over the next year. I would use the pros and cons approach of discussing increased minimum wages to explain the case and underline the long-term economic effects that a low minimum wage would have to answer the ‘so what?’ question.

Preparation

I would rely on influential minimum wage studies such as the annual National Low Income Housing Coalition report that examines the ability of US residents working full time on minimum wage to afford a rented home in the country. Statistical studies and reports such as David Card and Alan Krueger’s ‘Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, would come in handy in giving concrete historical data applicable in the discussion. The sources that would work well are mostly statistical, economic and ethical because they provide a living justification based on real data and serve as the basis for an ethical position. The quantitative data would serve as credible defenses against gaps and difficulties that may arise. However, in some instances their limitation to specific industries and time periods may limit their applicability.

Forecast

I will start the paper with a surprising fact revolving around the insufficiency of prevailing minimum wages and how workers who earn these can’t even provide for their basic needs. To develop ideas in a bid to increase the essay length, I will conduct online and library research on the comparative effects that raising the minimum wage has had on foreign countries and find more ideas that can enforce or contrast the US experience. The paper would be an attempt to inform policy makers, especially those focused on labor laws, about possibilities and options as far as minimum wage is concerned. Labor policy makers like congressmen would then understand that some of the challenges the country faces like immigration crises can get solutions in unexpected arenas.

Questions

This brings me to two key questions:

1. What is your opinion on the suitability of quantitative data utilized to the minimum wage discussion, is it appropriate and does it limit the scope of discussion
2. What is your experience with reports from NGOs and research institutions regarding topical issues, how reliable or biased are they?