Recently the question of how much workers should be paid has been an open and important topic for individuals working at minimum wage. The minimum wage has been a political issue since its inception. It has increased each year between 0 cents to $1.53 since Jan 1 2000, according to the History of Washington State’s minimum wage.

   Diana Inocencio has been working at her job for one month, but she is unhappy and wants an increase. “I think raising the minimum wage would get people to work harder since they are getting more money,” said Inocencio.

For most people working, the minimum wage does not give them a living wage. The hourly rate hasn’t kept up with the cost of living since the late 1960’s, according to Investopedia, an unbiased article about financial information and educational content.

“Can a family survive on the US minimum wage?”asks Miguel Arguello, a senior at Sedro Woolley High School who works at Domino’s Pizza, taking customers orders.

    “Increasing the minimum wage will get me to be more motivated to work,“ said Arguello. According to the article on the Official State Government Website,  “Federal workers going into effect,” President Joe Biden says his proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour will lift many low-wage workers out of poverty. This is important to share because it benefits citizens who’s states have low cost of living.

     “This will also benefit me well because I will have more money to spend on myself so I can be happy again,” said Arguello.

    There are many good benefits from increasing the minimum wage. Teenagers employed, who have no bills to worry about, could take advantage of this, by handling their money responsibly.

    Arguello says if the minimum wage increased, he would spend his money on things that he enjoys. 

    Even so, this can result in job losses when people have enough money saved for what they need. According to Inocencio, “People would not want to go to work as much simply because of what people make in a week, they would be getting it in 2-3 days.”

This means workers would only work for a few hours which affects business owners in a negative way, when needing employees.

    Most employers recognize that raising the minimum wage won’t be as fair for them to their company, because they would be earning the same amount as a student working a part-time job.

 “I believe that increasing the minimum wage can affect other workers in a negative way by feeling unfair about the amount they get, “ said Inocencio. 

   Many argue that different positions are worthy of different wage levels. Will raising the minimum wage affect us in a good way or a bad way? With all the talk of minimum wage increase within the Washington state government, we will not find out soon whether or not it changes our economy for the better.