Minimum Wage Increases Bring on Net Benefits

Income inequality is currently at the forefront of worry for this great nation - a very serious issue that has for years been debated with seemingly no simple solution. However, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin thought he might have found an integral piece to the puzzle in 2013 (Bernstein, 2014). The Fair Minimum Wage Act [FMWA] proposes that some of our nation’s income inequality falls squarely on the shoulders of the currently unadjusted (despite-inflation) minimum wage (Bernstein, 2014).

FMWA acts as a graduated process to incrementally raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 over a three year timeline (Bernstein, 2014). “Raising the minimum wage and incorporating a system for automatic adjustment over time is key to reversing this erosion of low-wage workers’ earnings, and would help combat growth of income inequality” (Cooper, 2013). Recently FMWA has been brought into the lime light due to the success that the select thirteen states [who enacted FMWA] have seen by increasing job creation over those states who did not enact FMWA (Neuman, 2014).

To continue reading:

Bernstein, Jared & Sharon Parrott.

2014. “Proposal to Strengthen Minimum Wage Would Help Low-Wage Workers, With Little Impact on Employment”. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Washington, DC. January 7, 2014. <http://www.cbpp.org/files/1-7-14minwg.pdf>

Cooper, David & Doug Hall.

2013. “Raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would give working families, and the overall economy, a much-needed boost”. Economic Policy Institute. March 13, 2013. <http://www.epi.org/publication/bp357-federal-minimum-wage-increase/>

Neuman, Scott.

2014. “States That Raised Minimum Wage See Job Growth, Report Says”. NPR. July 19, 2014. <http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/07/19/332879409/states-that-raised-minimum-wage-see-faster-job-growth-report-says?sc=17&f=1001&utm_source=iosnewsapp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=app>

Taylor Pratt-Houle