The minimum wage is the least per hour that a worker can earn. Do you think that raising it will help poor people?
Go to this blog post to see my lesson plan that we can use to talk about in class:
http://rachaelenglishclasses.blogspot.co.il/2014/08/does-raising-minimum-wage-really-help.html
Prepare the questions and we will do the role play in class too.
It is not simple.
"A hike in the minimum wage raises the cost of low-wage workers. That should make firms less likely to hire those people. Unemployment should rise. Basic Econ 101, right? Except that the real world seems to be much murkier. Yes, a number of studies have found a link between a higher minimum wage and higher unemployment. But many others, such as this recent paper from U.C. Berkeley that exploited differences across state borders, have found no effect at all. Quite often, hiking the minimum wage by a buck or two doesn't appear to worsen unemployment in any noticeable way."
I think employers overstate their case for self-serving reasons.
I believe we can afford to raise the minimum wage <em>as fast as inflation</em>, i.e. to keep the real minimum wage constant.
I meant to say: 'hire'
To the disagreers: dream on.
The concept of minimum wage is totally misguided. Many companies will simply higher less people, many of those with low wages have no job now.
