A 3 page argumentative essay that argues that raising the minimum wage is good but not good enough, as the working poor need a living wage. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: KL9_khminwag.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Fair Labor Standards Act in the 1930s (Von Bergen, Mawer and Soper 281). In this era, a "living wage" and the "minimum wage" were virtually synonymous as the point of
the law was to fight poverty. However, over the course of the twentieth century, the two concepts have drifted apart, as employees endeavoring to live on a minimum wage salary
have had to take two, sometimes three, jobs to stay financial afloat, particularly if they are trying to support a family. A "living wage" is one that is "sufficient
to provide the necessities and comforts essential an acceptable standard of living" ("living wage"). Recently, the minimum wage has been incrementally raised from just a little over $5 an hour
to just a little over $7. The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL), as of July 24, 2009, has set the minimum wage at $7.25 per hour (DoL). While this is
a step in the right direction, but it s not nearly sufficient to address the gap that still exists between the minimum wage and what it costs to live in
most of the country. Many cities and states are taking matters into their own hands to address the problem of poverty by passing living wage ordinances. For example, in
2006, Miami city government began requiring that service contractors that hold contracts of over $100,000 per year must pay their employees $10.58 per hour if the employer provides health insurance
and $11.38 per hour if the no health insurance is provided (Living Wage Resource Center). The living wages that have been instituted in various locations across the country are all
different, which reflects the fact that some locales have a higher cost of living than others, but thy are always higher than $7.25 per hour. In her book, Nickel and