Dear Mr./Mrs. President,

The minimum wage in the U.S. is too low. Many people are living in poverty due to the high cost of living and the low wages that businesses are paying their employees. The federal minimum wage in the United States is $8.25 per hour if the employee earns no benefits. The minimum wage in the U.S., if the employee earns benefits, is $7.25 per hour. This is not nearly enough for any person to support themselves. According to the American Federation of Labor, 89% of people that earn minimum wage are over twenty years old, 28% percent have children, and on average, they earn more than half their family’s income. The average American family has $48,591 in student debt. That means that someone earning minimum wage putting forth twenty five percent of their earnings will have to spend more than eleven years to pay off their student debt. 75% of Americans say that the minimum wage should be raised to $12.50 per hour by 2020.

I have a few suggestions about a new minimum wage. To start, the minimum wage should be raised to $8.50 per hour if the employee earns benefits and to $9.50 per hour for employees with no benefits. At the current minimum wage rate, workers only earn $17,600 a year if they work full time at forty hours a week. My new suggested minimum wage would increase the yearly earned amount by $2,600 and raise the yearly earnings to $20,200. This minimum wage would allow many people to support themselves. The average two-person family needs $36,000 a year to even survive. In order for that same family to live even slightly comfortably, they need to earn $46,800 a year. If both people in the family earn the current minimum wage, they only earn $35,200.

If the minimum wage was raised to my suggested amount of $8.50 per hour, the economy would be helped in many ways. People earning minimum wage now would be earning an additional fifteen percent, so they would have more disposable income. This means there would be more money going to products and entertainment that people earning the current minimum wage couldn't currently afford. Some people may argue that raising the minimum wage would hurt the economy because employers would have to pay their employees more, leaving them with less money for the business. This accusation is false because these business owners would be earning more money from people earning minimum wage because people earning minimum wage would be able to spend more towards the business.

The minimum wage increase would also benefit the government. As people earn more money, the amount of their taxes increase. This means that the government is earning more money from the large number of people that make minimum wage. Also, as people have more disposable income, they are spending more. When people spend more, they have to pay more sales tax.

The United States should raise the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour if the employee earns benefits and $9.50 per hour if the employee earns no benefits. This would help the economy because people would have more disposable income. The new minimum wage would also benefit the government because earning the higher minimum wage would require people to pay a greater tax. You, Mr./Mrs. President, need to raise awareness in Congress about the minimum wage to my suggested amount for there to be a significant change.

Sincerely,

Johnathan