Corilynch.files.wordpress.com



Essay PromptThere is an ongoing debate as to whether the minimum wage should be raised to $15 dollars an hour. Opponents of the raise say that it would cause job loss, close businesses, and make it hard for young people to find jobs and gain experience; those in favor say it would increase citizens’ buying power, stimulate the economy, and lift workers out of poverty. Weigh the claims on both sides, and then write an argumentative essay supportingeither side of the debate in which you argue for or against raising the minimum wage.Before you begin planning and writing, read the texts “Why We Should Raise the Minimum Wage” and “There’s no Shame in Starting at the Bottom.”As you read the texts, think about what details from the texts you might use in yourargumentative essay. You may take notes or highlight the details as you read.After reading the texts, create a plan for your argumentative essay. Think about ideas,facts, definitions, details, and other information and examples you want to use. Thinkabout how you will introduce your topic and what the main topic will be for each paragraph.Now write your argumentative essay. Be sure to:? Introduce your claim.? Support your claim with logical reasoning and relevant evidence from the passages.? Acknowledge and address alternate or opposing claims.? Organize the reasons and evidence logically.? Use words, phrases, and clauses to connect your ideas and to clarify therelationships among claims, counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.? Establish and maintain a formal style.? Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presentedWhy we should raise the minimum wageRobert Reich, former Labor SecretaryThe city of Seattle, Washington, illustrates why the minimum wage could be raised to as much as $15 an hour. That's what Seattle did recently, leading a long-overdue movement toward a living wage.Across America, the ranks of the working poor are growing. While low-paying industries such as retail and food preparation accounted for 22 percent of the jobs lost in the Great Recession, they've generated 44 percent of the jobs added since then, according to a report from the National Employment Law Project. Last February, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that raising the national minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.25 would lift 900,000 people out of poverty.Seattle estimates that, before its historic decision, almost a fourth of its workers earned below $15 an hour. That translates into about $31,000 a year for a full-time worker. In a high-cost city like Seattle, that's barely enough to support a family. Most minimum-wage workers aren't teenagers these days. They're major breadwinners who need to keep their families out of poverty.The gains from a higher minimum wage extend beyond those who receive it. More money in the pockets of low-wage workers means more sales, especially in the locales they live in — which, in turn, creates faster growth and more jobs. A major reason the current economic recovery is anemic is that so many Americans lack the purchasing power to get the economy moving again.With a higher minimum wage, moreover, we'd all end up paying less for Medicaid, food stamps and other assistance the working poor now need in order to have a minimally decent standard of living.Some worry about job losses accompanying a higher minimum wage. I wouldn't advise any place to raise its minimum wage immediately to $15 an hour from the current federal minimum of $7.25. That would be too big a leap all at once. Employers — especially small ones — need time to adapt.But this isn't what Seattle is doing. It's raising its minimum to $15 incrementally over several years from $9.32 (Washington State's current statewide minimum). Large employers (with over 500 workers) that don't offer employer-sponsored health insurance have three years to comply; those that offer health insurance have four; smaller employers get up to seven. My guess is Seattle's businesses will adapt without any net loss of employment. Seattle's employers will also have more employees to choose from – as the $15 an hour minimum attracts into the labor force some people who otherwise haven't been interested. That means they'll end up with workers who are highly reliable and likely to stay longer, resulting in real savings.Research by Michael Reich and Arindrajit Dube confirms these results. They examined employment and found no statistically significant increase in unemployment in the higher-minimum counties, even after four years. They also found that employee turnover was lower where the minimum was higher.Not every city or state can meet the bar Seattle has just set. But many can — and should.There's no shame in starting at the bottomBrian Brenberg, assistant professor at The King’s CollegeWe've been hearing a lot about the plight of the minimum-wage worker lately.I tell the students in my freshman economics class the opposite: They'd be victims if the opportunity to earn minimum wage were taken away. And that's exactly what many people across the country are demanding.Over the past year, workers have pitched strikes in hundreds of cities across the country, demanding a minimum wage of up to $15 per hour to replace the current $7.25 minimum wage. As Diana Ransom points out in Inc. Magazine, that adds up to $15,000 more a year for each worker. Sounds good for the worker — if that job exists.The problem is that the money has to come from somewhere, and when employers are forced to pay more than the labor is worth — when the contribution of the worker doesn't match the cost to employ him — employers simply won't offer the job. And that consequence will fall hardest on young people who deserve the opportunity to take the first step in their careers.The reality is that minimum-wage workers look a lot more like my college freshmen than the single mom with kids we've been reading about in the headlines. More than half of all minimum-wage workers are under the age of 25, and many are students trying to pay their way through school. Only about 15 percent of minimum-wage workers are heads of households with children.So my students are fairly representative of the minimum-wage worker whose plight we're debating. And let's face it, while their ambition and intelligence is promising, most haven't reached the point where they have much to offer in terms of skill and experience.That's why entry-level jobs are so important — they offer the opportunity to acquire and hone basic, important skills. Not just the obvious habits like showing up on time, taking instructions, or following rules. Entry-level jobs plant the seeds for skills that will fully flower much later down the road.Think about the demands placed on fast-food workers. To do the job, they need to learn how to work quickly under pressure during the lunch rush, juggle multiple responsibilities between the cash register and the kitchen, handle difficult feedback from customers, and motivate and collaborate with team members.Now think about the demands of a brand manager, sales representative, or consultant. They are the same.?When they stop and think about it, my students realize how relevant entry-level job experience can be when it comes to higher-paying, higher-profile jobs. Minimum-wage jobs are tough, and that's what makes them a great first step on a career path.I'm sympathetic to those who are calling for a higher minimum wage because I think what they're really asking for is a chance to get ahead. The slow recovery and lack of job growth has left many people with few opportunities to move up into higher paying positions. But raising the minimum wage won't solve this problem. In fact, it's more likely to make the problem worse.?The risk isn't that a higher minimum wage will cause businesses to shut down or fire workers, but that businesses will simply leave open positions unfilled as the cost of employing entry-level workers rises.The end result is that it will be harder for students like mine to land that first job and acquire those skills that lead to upward mobility. That's bad for them, and it's bad for the rest of us who are relying on them to use their creativity to improve our lives in the years ahead. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download