Another serious con when it comes to the minimum wage is that raising it stops some people who would have otherwise gone on to further their education (Wellington, 1991). These people do not see the need for more education, because they realize that they can enter the job market and make enough money to survive. That makes them happy, so they are satisfied with what they have. Later, when they realize that they cannot advance without a better education, they become frustrated and stuck in their job (Wellington, 1991). They feel trapped, but by that time there is not a lot that they can do. They may already have a lot of bills and/or a family, and going back to school is not something that they can do at that time. The lack of education in the workforce brings the entire economy down and keeps companies that are looking for higher-skilled workers from finding them, which means that positions go unfilled or companies have to hire workers who really are not qualified and then try to train them (Sowell, 2007; Wellington, 1992; Black, 2003).
Unemployment and poverty rise when minimum wage goes up,...
Poverty rises because more people cannot handle the rising prices that come along with this rise in wages. Unemployment goes up because there are fewer jobs (Wellington, 1991). If companies have to pay their workers more they often have to hire fewer workers, or they end up losing out when it comes to profits (Sowell, 2007). They cannot afford to do that in many cases, and that is especially true for smaller businesses where the profit margins are often tight and the owners are not making a lot of money anyway (Wellington, 1991). If they have to hire fewer people because they have to pay them more, there will be more people who cannot get jobs when they need them. No one will be hiring, and that could stop a lot of talented people from getting into the workforce and supporting themselves and their families, so it is something worth consideration.
Bibliography
Black, John (2003). Oxford dictionary of economics. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 300
Sowell, Thomas. (2007). Basic economics (3rd ed): A common sense guide to the economy.…
