11-4-16

Dear Future President,

I am a high school student in the state of Texas, and I am writing this to tell you my opinion on the topic of minimum wage. If the minimum wage were to rise, then many small businesses would be forced to lay off employees, or maybe even shut down, also, a lot of businesses would become more selective when hiring someone with less skills than one with those skills and many unskilled workers will not be hired

If minimum wage rises then small businesses will be forced to fire employees and even shut down their business. Many people rely on their low-income jobs to live. If those businesses were forced to lay off or shut down, then many people will be out of a job to feed their families or even just themselves. “If a particular McDonald’s employee earns the company $10 an hour, but the law forces McDonald’s to pay him $15 an hour, the employee won’t get any richer, but he will get fired.” One may argue that many people who are in poverty need the minimum wage to go up. But if that does happen, then many people will lose their jobs, including the people in poverty. Small businesses can’t afford a minimum wage raise, which would lead to unemployment rates skyrocketing with the owners having to lay off employees, maybe even leaving people on the streets.

In addition to small businesses closing, many unskilled workers will be unemployed. Due to the lessened amount of people being hired, the managers will be more selective when hiring, which in turn means that unskilled workers will not be hired over skilled workers. “Given the choice between hiring an unskilled worker for $7.25 an hour and a worker with more experience for the same rate, companies will always choose the more experienced worker, who will be more productive.” And statistically, the unskilled workers are usually the ones who need the job more than the skilled worker. People may argue that hirers wouldn’t just shut out unskilled workers, but in fact, they will due to employee cuts and the having to be more selective with who they choose to work.

It is important to keep minimum wage the same, because if not many workers will be laid off and small businesses will shut down, and unskilled workers will not be hired over skilled workers. Many people want to raise the minimum wage, but if that happens, the economy and small businesses will go into a panic.

Sincerely,

High school Student

Sources: http://www.valuesandcapitalism.com/what-actually-happens-when-you-raise-the-minimum-wage/

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/01/minimum-wage-hikes-hurt-unskilled-and-disadvantaged-workers-job-prospects