Dear President of the United States,

I feel like we need to raise the minimum wage because it is not enough money for a person to survive on. I am a high school student and a full-time minimum wage worker in New York City. This city is going to give fast food workers a $15 an hour minimum wage, but right now it is just $10.50 an hour. Even this amount is not enough for rent, food, clothes, bills, and everything that people have to pay for. President, you must help us by raising the minimum wage.

Should the United States raise the minimum wage? This is a really difficult question to answer because it could hurt both parties. If minimum wage went up, it would affect everyone. It would benefit low-wage people to a certain extent but at the same time, some businesses might plummet. People would lose jobs and a lot of people would be unemployed or homeless. Plus businesses would increase their products to generate more revenue. So who’s winning, really? No one in my opinion, unless they work out a system where everyone can live up to their needs of satisfaction. To answer the question I would say yes, that low-paid workers should get a raise but not if other people have to suffer. The government really needs to create a new system where everyone has equal amount of pay and no one has to suffer. In my opinion, that’s the only way to stop the madness.

I have a coworker at my fast food job who passed away last month. He made so little money that his family could not afford a funeral. They had to cremate him because they could not afford to bury him. This is so unfair. He was born here, raised here, he was a hard worker and paid his taxes. No one should be treated like that.

Sincerely,

A Student from Brooklyn International