By: Victoria Mendez and Alonzo Morales
October 11, 2016; 11:44 am
With the election right around the corner, Trump and Hillary have been asked for their opinions on the minimum wage.
Minimum wage has been a hot button issue for a long time. The Fair Labor Standards Act was created during 1938 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. When it started, FDR set the minimum hourly wage at 25 cents, and the maximum workweek at 44 hours. The Fair Labor Standards Act has been amended twice, and the minimum wage has increased every few years. The minimum wage was raised to 40 cents by 1945 and prohibiting child labor in 1924.
Today, 64% of the minimum wage workers are part-time workers, while 36% are full time. In 2013, approximately 1.5 million of US workers aged 16 and over earned exactly the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Any state can set their own minimum wage that isn’t allowed fall under the federal minimum of $7.25 which 21 states and the District of Columbia already have their rates set higher than the federal minimum wage.
Both of the candidates have their own views/opinions on minimum wage. No matter how confusing they may be.
Trump says that the living wage of $7.25 is something that someone cannot live on. He has actually been as the term, flip-flopping, between if he should keep it the same or if he should raise it, he even had said that he would support $10 for minimum wage.
However, not everyone agrees with him. Mrs. Jager, a Spanish teacher at North, thinks “It’s too low and especially for individuals raising a family. Income should be based on skill and who their dependents are. Pay should be based on skill rather than just experience.” However, Nic Guinn, a junior at North, said that minimum wage “needs to stay the same. It shouldn’t be raised because the cost of living will just go up. It won’t make much of a difference.”
Clinton would disagree with Nic. She has taken a stance on raising the minimum wage to $12, and even has supported the attempt of raising it to $15. Hillary believes that making $7.25 is not enough, since it means only making $15,080 a year before taxes and social security, for at least a single person in a single home. She wants to raise it to $12 so that it could support more families.
Mrs. Jager sides “with Clinton because she is very pro-family. That’s something that should be a priority and I support that.”
Obviously everyone has their own opinion on minimum wage and other issues. Make sure if you’re curious about this topic, you should look up the facts and keep up with the election so you can develop your own opinions. For continued reading, check out the websites we used for our information:
For further reading on this subject, check out these articles:
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/08/03/a-guide-to-all-of-donald-trumps-flip-flops-on-the-minimum-wage/
- http://bebusinessed.com/history/history-of-minimum-wage/
- http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/28/donald-trump/donald-trump-gets-full-flop-stance-minimum-wage/
