Ethical Minimum Wage Issue

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The Minimum Wage Issue: An Ethical Standpoint A $15 minimum wage is not enough to live on. The average American family working minimum wage every weekday does not meet the living standards in the US. With rent rising as time passes, 15 dollars is going to become less dependable. From a moral standpoint, the lowest amount of money people make should be enough for the basics that will be covered in this essay. What percentage of Americans working minimum wage are living in poverty? 14 percent of working Americans are below the poverty line because of a low minimum wage, and an even larger number are also being negatively impacted by it. The minimum wage in the U.S. does not pay enough to meet the requirements for living wage. Living wage defines the barrier to being able to provide oneself with …show more content…
Minimum wage has a strong impact on children. Families working minimum wage can barely provide for themselves, let alone their children. This can be harmful for young children, as looking back at the health impact, could make them grow up with poor health because their parents cannot afford it. “A couple with two children earning the minimum wage would need to work two full-time jobs, or ninety-six hours a week per adult, to make a living wage. A single parent with two children earning the federal minimum wage would need to work almost six full-time jobs, or 252 hours per week, to make a living wage” (Carrier lines 42-46). At 96 hours per week, per adult, that allows for almost no time with children. Just for clarity, there are 168 hours a week. So with a single parent of two working 6 full time, minimum wage paying jobs in a week (252 hours of work) just to meet living wage requirements, is not even possible. As well as the fact that “Almost a quarter of U.S. children under the age of 18 live with one parent and no other adult” (Kramer line 5-6). Minimum wage could also impact

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