Dear Future President,

My name is Kathryn, and I am a 8th grader in Ohio. I believe that minimum wage is a problem here in the US. The minimum wage is too low for people to support themselves and their families. There are also many people living in poverty that could be out of it if they were making more than the minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. In 2013, a poll by Oxfam America showed that US workers making $10 or less an hour don't have enough money to afford necessities. This causes big problems in the United States.

The minimum wage has caused many problems. Imagine coming home to your family after working a full day shift. They are very hungry but, you can't afford food because you have to pay your bills. This is what is happening because parents aren't making enough money to support their families. In 2015, Alliance for a Just Society, stated that a worker working at minimum wage would have to work 93 hours a week to afford their basic needs. Nobody has this time especially single parents with kids. A person earns $15,080 each year working full time at minimum wage. This is 8% below the federal poverty rate for single parents with kids under 18. Many people will say that raising minimum wage will hurt businesses and people will get laid off but, that is not true. According to the United States Department of Labor, more than 600 economists, including 7 Nobel Prize winners wrote in a letter to President Obama, "In recent years there have been important developments..evidence now showing that increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum-wage workers... minimum-wage increase could have a small stimulative effect on the economy as low-wage workers spend their additional earnings, raising demand and job growth…” (United States Department of Labor) Raising the minimum wage could do so many good things for our economy.

You, mister or madam president can amend the Fair Labor Standards Act so that the minimum wage is $10.10. This will benefit many people because it will reduce government spending, poverty, and it would help people afford what they need. Reducing government spending would be very beneficial to the United States. By raising the minimum wage to $10.10, the Economic Policy Institute said that 1.7 million people wouldn't depend on government programs anymore. They also said that the government would reduce their spending on programs by $7.6 billion. This would mean the government could spend that money on other important things. The number of people living in poverty would also decrease. In 2014, a Congressional Budget Office report stated, Raising the minimum wage to $9 would remove 300,000 citizens from poverty. Raising it to $10.10 would remove 900,000 people from poverty. According to economist Arindrajit Dube, PhD, increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 would also reduce the non-elderly living in poverty by 4.6 million. People will also be able to afford their necessities. There are many benefits to raising the minimum wage so mister or madam president it is very important that you fix this problem and amend the FLSA.

Sincerely,

Kathryn