Biden's $15 Federal Minimum Wage Plan

 Andres  Yengle

Mr. Roddy
IHSS
3 February 2021

Economics Article Blog and Discussion

Biden is planning on increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 over the next four years in his new Covid relief plan. He says that a minimum wage increase will reduce poverty and will benefit millions of Americans. He also said that it will support essential workers that haven't been getting the money they deserve. Biden says that “No matter where you work in America, if you work full time or 40 hours a week, you should not live in poverty, a $15 minimum wage accomplishes that.” While Biden's plan will work, the article speaks about an immediate $15 wage increase, many economists believe that raising the minimum wage to $15 will make millions of Americans lose their jobs, make prices go up, and make businesses go bankrupt. Big corporations will most likely not be affected by the raise because many of them have already raised their minimum wage to $15 but the small businesses are likely to suffer and leaving them with two options, to either raise their prices or to simply let go of their employees. 

I thought this article was super interesting because it's the future of our country. Going into this article I was always for the minimum wage and always thought that the downsides were just an excuse. After reading the article my views shifted in a way. I always thought that he was planning on raising the wage to $15 immediately. I was still in support of that but never thought about the negative effects.  I realized that there are real downsides. While there are upsides, I think that downsides need to be taken into account and seriously considered when thinking about this Covid relief bill. This could cost millions of Americans their jobs and cause prices to go up. The economy is very fragile at the moment. Right after a big crash, like the one in March, it wouldn't be the smartest thing to do something knowing could have very negative effects on the economy. I think a smarter plan is to slowly raise the minimum wage like Biden has proposed. This plan would raise people's income in a way that would allow them to spend some of that money on not only bills but also non-essential items. This would allow companies to prepare for minimum wages to rise in the coming years. I think that Biden has a strong plan and I’m looking forward to seeing how it is executed.



Morath, Eric. “Biden Wants a $15 Minimum Wage. Here's What People Say It Would Do to the Economy.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 3 Feb. 2021, www.wsj.com/articles/biden-wants-a-15-minimum-wage-heres-what-people-say-it-would-do-to-the-economy-11612348201#:~:text=The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office,million Americans out of poverty.

                 

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