Minimum Wage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Minimum Wage - Research Paper Example People from different jurisdictions have different opinions and reasons on whether to raise the minimum wage or not. In my opinion, the minimum wage should be raised because of a number of factors that will be discussed in this paper. Statistics reveal glaring differences and variations in minimum wage among various EU member states. For example, in Bulgaria, the minimum wage as of 1st July 2014 stood at 174 Euros. This was extremely low compared to Luxembourg which had a minimum wage of 1,921 during the same period. This glaring variation in minimum wage should be bridged so that workers from both places can have almost equal chances of generating reasonable income. One region should not have such a high minimum wage yet another region has an extremely low minimum wage when both countries are EU member states. Inflation and recession have been common occurrences in the economic front over the years. For example, the value of money in the 1970s cannot be compared to the value of money now. More literally, the value of 10 Euros in 1973 is not the same as the value of 10 Euros in 2014. For this reason, even the minimum wage cannot stay at the same flat rate that it has stayed over the past years. What 10 Euros could do for a worker in 1970 is not the same as what it can do to the same worker in 2014, for example. The minimum wage has to be increased to accommodate these changes in the value of money as a result of inflation and recession (Card, 1992). Today, the productivity of a typical worker is much higher than what it used to be many years back. This is mostly because of advancements in technology which have increased productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency. For this reason, the workers at the bottom deserve to benefit from these gains of increased productivity. Many people around the world are relying in minimum wage jobs to earn a living and make ends meet. For example, between 2010 and