Minimum Wage Worker Myth

In this article it talks about how minimum wage workers are not who you think they are. Most people believe that minimum wage workers are teenagers but studies have put that assumption to rest. A former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, noted recently in the New York Times Economix blog, women aged 25 and over constitute one-third of all minimum-wage workers, compared to teenagers of both sexes combined, who constitute about one-quarter. The argument that minimum wage workers should be paid more, is no longer in the shadows because some of those workers are single parents needing to feed their kids.

I think that minimum wage should be increased from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour because it would help more than twenty-seven millions of people in America. Most big business would be able to pay that increase in wage without any trouble. For the people that rely on their minimum wage to run the house it would make a huge difference. It would allow them to take care of their household with more confidence.

(Ramon, Fvelasquez)

This greatly affects me because I will be getting a job in just a few months. This would help me make insurance payments, maintenance on my car, and even allow me to have a little extra money to do what I want. That increase in minimum wage might seem like it is not much but in a forty hour full time work week it makes a substantial difference. One’s paycheck would go from $209.00 to $404.00 almost double what one would make if only making the current minimum wage.

The author uses language to advance his point of view by saying, “The myth that the typical minimum-wage worker is a teenager flipping burgers after school has been pretty well put to rest”(Noah). This simply means that fast food workers are not always teens trying to make a few extra bucks but struggling parents trying to put the food on the table for their family. Another example that really shows the point of view of the author is when he says, “Time to give them a little more”(Noah). This is pretty much self explanatory that the author of this article is clearly for an increase in minimum wage.



Fvelasquez, Ramon. "Santo Tomas Bantangas." Photograph. Wikimedia
            Commons. MediaWiki, 24 July 2013. Web. 15 March 2014.
            <http://commons.wikimedia.org/File:SantoTomasChurch.JPG>

Noah, Timothy. "The Average Minimum Wage Worker Today Is Not
             Who You Think.” MSNBC. NBC Universal, 14 March 2014. Web.
             15 March 2014.
             <http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/average-minimum-wage-myth>