An increase in minimum wage will affect all workers, not just recently employed workers. To increase the minimum wage might sound like a dream come true to someone working a minimum-wage job but, there are many downsides. Imagine walking home from work when you suddenly feel a growl in your stomach. One thing leads to the next, and it has now become a sharp pain. You scan the food options across the street and find exactly what you are looking for. Conveniently, it's right across the street. You think to yourself, ¨I am craving a bagel.¨ You might as well buy a bagel, ¨It's the closest shop,¨ you tell yourself. As you buy your bagel, you realize that the small business you recently bought your bagel from is increasing its prices, not just for that bagel, but for the entire menu! Even the tiniest portion of food that you can physically buy from this shop is tremendously expensive. Furthermore, you might not be able to take off work days for your family due to spending more money on essential items that provide for your family.  This increase in price is a result of the increasing minimum wage. Why would you want your bagel priced higher than it already is? The minimum wage debate might not seem like it applies to everyone, but it most certainly does.  The minimum wage should not be increased, instead, it should stay the same. 

On another note,  barriers may form, shutting young and new workers out of the job force making them closed off from the rapidly expanding job market. (Pro/Con) For example, work firms might not want to pay new workers $15 an hour if they end up not being reliable. (Pro/Con)  Even though workers might have better pay opportunities, they will still have a tremendously hard time finding suitable jobs fit for them. As stated by CNBC, ¨… over fifteen percent of minimum wage workers are in use with sixteen to twenty-four-year-olds ¨ (Subin CNBC). In contrast, a raise in the minimum wage would slightly increase consumer spending. Minimum wage job owners will likely favor more experienced workers regarding budget cuts because they have worked with them more. This might cause this scale in minimum wage workers to be off balance. To clarify,  newly brought-in minimum wage workers might have a tough time finding a job, resulting in an unfavorable job market for them. An increase in the minimum wage could have many unfavorable effects on non-minimum wage workers too. To further explain, many unfavorable scenarios might happen to workers if this minimum wage increase comes into place

 Increasing the minimum wage by a great deal will affect many businesses negatively.  In fact, The Congressional Budget Office states, ¨…projected that a minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $10.10 would result in a loss of 500,000 jobs¨ (Pro/Con).  These results make small businesses short on money and significantly large businesses have a limited supply of staff.  Many small businesses are already short on money from the pandemic. When businesses are short on cash they tend to let go of workers with the result of saving money.  At the same time, an increased minimum wage may overall lead to less money being earned for the business. The prices of the items in that business will swiftly increase because of shrinkage in workers and supply. In sum, business owners will suffer because of the increase in the minimum wage. 

In other circumstances, raising the minimum might not aid disadvantaged workers or new people trying to get involved in the workforce.  As stated by EPI, ¨When entry-level job hunters are able to find work, they earn more than just a paycheck. They learn valuable life skills …¨ (EPI). To clarify,  minimum wage jobs help many young people to understand important life skills to help their opportunities when they get older. In another instance,  If you look at a workforce with 10 people in it, if the minimum wage was increased most likely than not someone would have to be laid off.  Operating a  nine-person workforce will be an arduous task because people have to do more work and get paid more so in all, prices would rise in this industry. After that, a domino effect happens when raising the minimum wage causes things to happen to an employee that might not be fair, like extra work without proper pay for that work (CBO). For this reason, workers will not be able to earn valuable essential skills that all people need from a minimum wage job.

All said and done, raising the Federal Minimum Wage would result in more problems than solutions. Workers should work hard at their jobs so they can earn their way to a successful future.  As Bruce Lee once said,  ¨preparation for tomorrow is hard work today.” Bruce Lee was an actor, and martial artist who put in the time and effort to master his martial art skills. Working hard at something you love will pay off. It may seem hard at first, but opportunities will arise in the future. Life skills with a minimum-wage job will help people in the future.  People can achieve anything if they work hard and prepare for the future. If people work incredibly hard does pay really matter?

Works Cited

-, Todd Palmer, et al. “The Downsides of Increasing Minimum Wage.” DBusiness Magazine, 15 Feb. 2019, dbusiness.com/business/the-downsides-of-increasing-minimum-wage/.

“Minimum Wage: Teen Unemployment.” Employment Policies Institute, 7 Mar. 2013, epionline.org/minimum-wage/minimum-wage-teen-unemployment/.

“Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased? 15 Pros and Cons.” Minimum Wage, 22 Feb. 2022, minimum-wage.procon.org/.

Subin, Samantha. “$15 Minimum Wage Will Result in Layoffs, One-Third of Small Business Owners Say: Survey.” CNBC, CNBC, 10 Feb. 2021, cnbc.com/2021/02/10/one-third-of-small-businesses-say-15-minimum-wage-means-layoffs.html.