Dear Future President,

As the next leader of America, there will be conflicts that you will face in office. One of the problems that I feel needs to be fixed is the unacceptably low wage minimum throughout America. Places with high levels of poverty are the main areas that need minimum wage enforcement. The United States Department of Labor observes that Georgia and Wyoming have minimum wages lower than the federal rate. Also, states like Tennessee and Louisiana don’t even have a set minimum wage. I live in Louisiana and I see people everyday who live paycheck to paycheck and barely get by. This should be changed because states with no minimum wage give employers a chance to charge their workers less than what is needed to live off of.

It is often said that raising the minimum wage will cause an increase in unemployment and smaller businesses to suffer, but these effects are less likely to happen. According to the Executive Director and Chief Economist at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, Heather Boushey, “The economics evidence shows that raising the minimum wage does not lead to higher unemployment overall but rather boosts productivity and addresses a growing issue in our economy of rising inequality.” In other words, Boushey counters the thought of high unemployment being the effect of higher wages.

I feel that the minimum wage should be raised to $15 an hour across the country. Changing the minimum wage at this rate will close the income gap between middle and upper class families more and more. Students at Pennsylvania State University, Mont Alto state that “There has been discussion lately about increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, which would bring a family relying on a single wage-earner above the poverty line.” Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would decrease the amount of families living in poverty. Children that I know will be able to have a better education because their parents will be making more money to save for their college tuition. However, states like California and New York are already making changes to raise their minimum wage to $15. “Last Monday, Gov. Jerry Brown of California announced a deal with state lawmakers to raise California’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022 — a move expected to lift pay for five million workers.” If New York and California can gradually raise their minimum wage, other states can too.

The issue of low minimum wage rates is very important to me. In your four years in office, I want to see more laws enforcing a higher minimum wage. As the rate of inflation changes, the rate of minimum wage should also change. As president, you should strive for a nation with less poverty. I believe that by having less poverty, crime and unemployment rates will also decrease in time. All in all, America will be a happier place under these new laws. Things happen and I want lower and middle class families to have less stress when they do.

Sincerely,

NW