Running Head: TOULMIN ARGUMENT

Toulmin Argument Maintaining the Minimum Wage

Lisa Tran

Westminster High School

Mr. Lim

AP Language, 2015-2016
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Toulmin Argument Maintaining the Minimum Wage

Throughout history, increasing the minimum wage has been a pivotal and

continuous topic. In 1938, Franklin Roosevelt passed the Fair Labor Standards Act,

setting the minimum wage to 25 cents per hour (Wilson, 2012, pg 2). Since then, the

minimum wage increased to $7.25 per hour (Wilson, 2012, pg 2). Recently, President

Barack Obama endorsed a plan to increase raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25

to $10.10 (Sabia, 2014, pg 1). Even with the federal minimum wage increases, those who

are struggling will continuously demand for a higher pay. Moreover, the assumption is

that minimum wage workers are the head of the family, who work full- time to provide

for their family. However, only 4.7 percent fit that description (Wilson, 2012, pg 3).

While alleviating poverty and helping those who are struggling is a shared goal, raising

the minimum wage does the inverse effect. The minimum wage should remain the same

because it increases unemployment rates and hurt small businesses.

A minimum wage hike will have adverse effects on employment. According to

Wilson, a former assistant of the United States Department of Labor (2012), increasing

the minimum wage will force businesses to makes changes to adapt to the higher labor

cost. By raising the minimum wage, it decreases the demand for workers. Low-wage

individuals are being paid more than they should be for unskilled labor jobs. Thus,

employers will respond by cutting the employees hours or even reduce the amount of

workers (American Legislative Exchange Council, 2014, pg 2). Because employers are

overpaying employees for their worth, it limits job opportunities. The increase of higher

labor cost will make it more difficult to secure minimum wage jobs for those who need it
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most. According to American Legislative Exchange Council (2014, pg 4), young adult

employment decreased by 3.9 percent after the minimum wage increased by 10 percent.

A rise in minimum wage negatively affects teenagers who need minimum wage job

experience as a stepping stone to later occupation goals. As a result of competition for job

opportunities, a small group of people will get a higher pay, while those like teenagers

and uneducated adults will be out of a job.

Furthermore, raising the minimum wage will hurt small businesses (American

Legislative Council Exchange, 2014, pg 2). If the government imposes a higher

minimum wage, small businesses will struggle tremendously if forced to compete with

the raises of larger corporations. Employers cannot afford to overpay those whose jobs

require little to no skills necessary. Also, they cannot lay off every employee because

they need workers to help run their businesses. Therefore, small and independent stores

will be forced to push their profits as low as they can just to keep open. According to

American Legislative Council Exchange (2014, pg 2), in the California section of the

National Federation of Independent Business, 63 percent of 68,000 jobs lost would be

from small businesses who can no longer afford to pay their employees. The effect of

raising the minimum wage will put small franchise stores out of business.

Many argue that the current minimum wage is not enough to survive with the

rising cost of living (Wilson, 2012, pg 9). However, those struggling can get financial

assistance to help meet their most basic needs. Families in financial crisis or hardships

can get aid from food stamps, Medicare, and Low Income Housing Energy Assistance

Program. These organizations are designed to help low-income families and single
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mothers with rent, utility bills, food, clothing and other necessities. Therefore, with

assistance from the federal government and other organizations, those who are struggling

will be able to live a comfortable lifestyle.

Moreover, advocates of minimum wage claim that the raises in wage would help

keep up with inflation (Wilson, 2012, pg 3). We can all agree that being able to live a

comfortable lifestyle means being able to afford things without the help from the

government. However, statistic shows that raises in minimum wage will also mean raises

in common everyday essentials, such as the price of food. A study by Sara Lemos of

Institution for the Study of Labor, predicted that a 10 percent higher minimum wage will

result in a 4 percent increase in food prices (American Legislative Exchange Council,

2014, pg 5). Families with low-income tend to spend a greater percentage of their budget

on food. Therefore, food prices are of particular importance. Although minimum wage

workers will benefit from a higher paycheck the offset is higher prices. Additionally,

non-minimum wage earners will face higher prices. To compensate, they will likely cut

back spending. These cutbacks in spending can also harm small businesses and increase

unemployment. Because increasing the minimum wage only helps a small group of

low-skilled individuals, it should not be implemented. It would be unfair to those who

worked hard to get an education to be financially stable to get paid the same as an

uneducated and less-experienced individual.

We can all agree that the majority of individuals desire to be successful and

financially stable. It is in manys interest to move up in their job or have a larger

paycheck- especially those earning minimum wage. Therefore, of course those who are
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struggling will demand to increase the minimum wage. However, what they are ignoring

are the disadvantages that comes with increasing the minimum wage. The state minimum

wage is better for those struggling than a federal increase because different areas demand

for different living costs. Instead of raising the minimum wage, another option can be to

raise the earned income tax credit. This way, the earned income tax will be paid for by

society and not just employers. The end result will allow those struggling to get a higher

pay.
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References

American Legislative Exchange Council, (2014), Raising the minimum wage: Effect on

employment, business, and consumers. Retreived from https://www.scribd.com/

fullscreen/212049436?access_key=key-2osfjdjzwc88zcwwwoy5&allow_share=tr

ue&escape=false&show_recommendations=false&view_mode=scroll.

Corwin, C. M., (2007), Raising the Minimum Wage: Both Sides of the Coin, University

of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects. Retrieved from http://trace.tennessee.

edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2059&context=utk_chanhonoproj.

Sabia, J. J., (2014), Minimum wages: A poor way to reduce poverty. Retrieved from

http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/tbb_70.pdf.

Wilson, M., (2012), The negative effect of minimum wage laws, Policy Analysis No.701.

Retrieved from http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/PA701.pdf.