In the United States, workers usually are paid no less than what is called minimum wage. The federal government mandates a national minimum wage which is set at $7.25. Since 2009, the minimum wage has remained the same, but in recent elections politicians have been stressing for a significant increase in the current minimum wage. President Barrack Obama also has a call for a nationwide increase in minimum wage to a nearly three dollar increase, $10.10. Many politicians think that a higher minimum wage would be the solution to several problems such as economic debt, unemployment, and unskilled workers. However raising the minimum wage would ultimately be a bad decision, and would result in a serious economic decline. .
The common misconception that a lot of people get from a higher minimum wage is the result in a decrease of unemployment. Instead, an increase in minimum wage would increase unemployment. Harvard University professor Greg Mankiw wrote that "according to various polls of the profession, 79% of economists subscribe to the following: a minimum wage increases unemployment among young and unskilled workers" (qtd. in Jaarda). More than three-fourths of economists agree that the unemployment would increase. People would argue that this is biased in that unemployment would only increase in young and unskilled workers. However, a big percentage of the workers that receive minimum wage today are in fact young and unskilled workers. A minimum wage job should be a position filled by a teenager who needs some extra spending money. It should be a position filled by someone who is working on their college degree, so that they can better themselves for the future. Working a job where a worker only receives $7.25 an hour builds responsibility, and pushes one to finish their college degree where they won't be stuck working for low wages the rest of their life. .
History shows that mainly democratic politicians are the ones that want the increase in the minimum wage.
