Raising the minimum wage?

I think as long as the gas prices are going up, so should the wages.

Cons: taxes would go up OR federal funding towards other organizations/areas of the gov. would decrease to offset the rising minimum wage. Pros: People may actually be able to *live* off what they're making. In Florida, the minimum wage is $6.67. I, a 17 y/o Senior, am now making $7.25 (I started off at CVS making $6.75 when minimum was $6.50). After working a 38-hour week over the summer, I made a measly $228. My standard paychecks for 24-hour weeks are ~$140. Now, what's going to happen to me when I move out of the house come June 2008? I can guarantee you that I won't be able to make rent on THAT wage, let alone pay for food, gas, or insurance, and I have a little ol' scooter! Imagine if I had a car! Not only would I *not* be able to make ends meet, I wouldn't have any ends to deal with whatsoever, what with school, books, labs, scoot insurance (~$60/month or more), gas, groceries, rent, etc. Many people are working minimum-wage jobs, and they AREN'T just the high-school/college drop-outs. Students are working minimum--both college and high school--and it is absolutely impossible to make a living off of it. CVS has increased its profit by ~70% or so in the past few years, according to my AP Gov. teacher, and raises for CVS employees has only increased by a mere 1-2% during that same span of time.

Please remember that if you raise wages across the board, prices of everything will go up relative to the increase. This will lead to at the very least no real gain for the poor and possibly an overall loss. Your state has one of the highest costs of living in the country and an increase might be necessary, however the cost will be passed on to consumers, who by the way are the same people who just got a slightly bigger paycheck. A federal increase must be entered into with caution. I live in a depressed area with inexpensive housing, food and other costs. An increase in wages to workers might sound good but has little or no benefit. In the past when companies had such an acceptable reason to raise prices they went beyond what they needed to cover the rise in wages and added a bit for their pockets. Even in my area many people make more than the mandated minimum wage and those who don't will probably find a job that will pay more in the near future. With the variance in costs of living in this country perhaps the states should control their own minimum wage settings and the feds should stay out of it.

It does not mean 'minimum wage to live on'. Minimum wage is mostly for school kids, doing part time and summer time jobs.

Makes me think your state has Unions ... Unions love for the min. wage to go up because it means their higher paying jobs go up to reflect the change (bargaining table chips for the next contract).

Having a minimum wage that is to high can harm the local economy because while it will raise the pay of employee's it can also mean there are less jobs to be had because someone might have to lose their job in order for the company to pay the others their minimum wage.

You mean the government legislating wealth into existence? Might as well build a perpetual motion machine. Minimum-wage legislation benefits some at the expense of the least experienced, least productive, and poorest workers. It's a result of special-interest politics. That's all. It also increases unemployment. Nice idea, eh?

Why would anyone stay in a minimum wage job that long? Even at substantially more it would be impossible to live on in most of the country.

Let's see. . .inflation is rampant. Prices of everything are going up with the price of gas. So if we raise minimum wages, then companies will have to raise their prices even more to cover the cost of their employees and then we will have even more inflation. So those of us who have worked to make a better wage will actually have less buying power so those making minimum wages can survive better. Oh yea, that's right, there will be rising costs so the uneducated masses will shortly be in the same position they were before and those of us who make slightly more will just have less buying power. Hello. Anyone home?

remember that inflation last year was 0!

here in brazil minimum wage is 140 dollars a month and people manage to survive. i think 7 bucks an hour is good enough, if america didnt have resources that helped people who get min wage with other benefits or if these people had absolutely no chance of a good education then maybe....

If your asking to raise minimum wage, would have to disagree. It is not because it would hurt corporate America but it would hurt the small business the most. Those of us that are working the hardest to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads!

If you are still working for minimum wage, then do what I did. I moved my poor family to a place where I could go back to school and earn the right to make more money. Now I do.

Stop whining.

I honestly think the minimum wage should be kept at $6.50. It is for entry level jobs and ones with no benefits. If we raise the MW then more jobs will go overseas because of it.

People should not be happy with only wanting to "achieve" working at a MW job. They should strive for better.

There are loans and grants for people who need help with college or tech school..