MinimumWageDebate

NOTE: EACH question that you need to answer has a dot by it!

Vocab:
Minimum Wage: Minimum wage is defined as the lowest amount that employers can legally
pay their workers per hour of labor. (source)
Minimum Wage definition in your own words:
Minimum wage is when an employer comes to paying their workers this amount is the smalllest
amount they can pay them.
Unintended Consequences: is that actions of peopleand especially of governmentthat
have effects that are unanticipated or unintended. (source)
Unintended Consequences definition in your own words:
Unintended Consequences are actions that have unintended effects.
Predict what some unintended consequences (see definition above) of raising the
minimum wage might be:
Unintended consequences of raising minimum wage could be that the company does not make
enough to pay all their employees minimum wage.
Debate Summary:
Supporters of raising the Minimum Wage say that minimum wage laws protects workers from
being taken advantage of and helps working families.
Opponents of raising the minimum wage say that minimum wage laws cause workers to lose
their jobs and cause the prices of goods and services to go up.
In this assignment YOU get to decide whether you support or oppose raising the minimum
wage. Analyze the following two websites answer the below questions.
Read the five reasons the Think Progress Website supports raising the minimum wage.
Evaluate which is the strongest argument in support of the minimum wage:
The strongest argument in support of the minimum wage would have to be the gender gap
because women make 77 cents for every dollar that a man makes so when you raise the
minimum wage then women also get more. It is also to be said that there will be a smaller wage
gap.

Read the four reasons the Cato Institute Website opposes raising the minimum wage.
Evaluate which is the strongest argument opposing the minimum wage.
It would result in job loss because there is evidence from the past that there was a significant
decrease in jobs.

Analyze cartoon #1 (below) Does the artist support or oppose raising the minimum
wage?
The artist in the cartoon below is for the minimum wage being raised.

Evaluate the messages in cartoon #1 (below):

The message that the artist is trying to portray in the cartoon below is that this butler is someone
who has many jobs. While the one he is working for is opposing it saying that he will have less
jobs. So the butler is kind of making his point saying that o I can quit my two others since only
one he will have enough to get by with because of the raise of minimum wage.
 Analyze cartoon #2 (below) Does the artist support or oppose raising the minimum
wage?
The cartoon below is against the minimum wage being raised.
Evaluate the messages in cartoon #2 (below):
The cartoon below shows that people are losing jobs because of the minimum wage raise that
they cant pay for all the employees.
 Analyze the two below maps showing minimum wage rates by state and unemployment
rate by state. Hypothesize a relationship between a higher minimum wage and
unemployment:
The higher the minimum wage the more unemployment will go up. People will not be able to pay
their employees.
 Imagine you are a member of the House of Representatives, write a press release for
the public to read your position in support or opposition of raising the minimum wage. In
one to five sentences, write a statement justifying your position:
I believe that the minimum wage should not be raised because the state should not be making
more than the federal. I think that people who do not do as much as the federal and we have so
much unemployment already. Some business just can not pay for their employees to be working
so they have to get released. The state will just have a higher unemployment rate therefore we
should not raise the minimum wage amount.
THE END.