Mr. Szymanowski
Macroeconomics Course Trident Technical College
28 October 2014
Minimum Wage Economically speaking, minimum wage can be denoted as “the lowest amount that employers can legally pay their workers per hour of labor” (History), and is a heavily debated between various political groups as well as economists. There are pros and cons to lowering and raising the minimum wage, even if it should be in existence in today’s economy. Pros to the inclusion of the minimum wage include that it guarantees fair wage on the minimal level, and to oppose, some believe the placement of minimum wage keeps employers from raising wages, ultimately having a reduction on overall earnings. The current minimum wage for South Carolina is seven dollars and twenty five cents, and many debates are held to decide whether it should be raised or lowered, and its fluctuation depends on that of the economy. The minimum wage is not randomly placed by region, but rather is dependent on unemployment rates and labor supply of that individualized region. Minimum wage is primarily supported by those who believe its existence in the economy and lives of the people will allow a large reduction of poverty rates across the country. The simple establishment of minimum wage laws, first placed in New Zealand in 1894, was a quick abolishment to all sweat shops and made sure workers were paid properly and proportionally to the work involved. Equality serves as the major cause of minimum wage for this way people on the lower spectrum of the labor force is not discriminated by means of gender and/or racial factors. Even to an extent, the minimum wage helps protect the younger generations and national minorities from less payment than others. An additional supporting factor to minimum wage maintaining its place in the economy is that it is believed and proven that wage causes stimulus in the spending portion of the economy allows more money to be into the economy based on the spending habits of those on minimum wage. For these reasons, the minimum wage is heavily supported by a large community both involved in just working and economical effects. In opposition to support of the minimum in wage, some believe the minimum being in place actually causes a negative impact across the economy and country itself. In various times, the employment rates have been recorded as decreasing