There has been a great deal of controversy over the minimum wage in the United States. The federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 since July 24, 2009.

Minimum wage was not invented to raise a family. It was to help people get started in the work force and they would eventually move up the ladder. It was also designed to help senior citizens who want to supplement their retirement income.

I do understand that people try to maintain a household on minimum wage, but it was not designed to support an entire family on. I am a firm believer that if a person has minimum skills, minimum education and shows minimum motivation that they should be compensated with minimum wage.

Some argue that raising the minimum wage would help to reduce poverty in America. It seems that raising the minimum wage would have this effect. However, despite supporter’s good intentions, a higher minimum wage will not reduce poverty.

For example, raising the minimum wage reduces many workers’ job opportunities and working hours. Also, the majority of poor Americans do not work at all, for any wage, so raising the minimum wage does not help them.

If wages were to be increased it would serve to raise costs of production and thus prices, which in turn serves to reduce physical sales volume and the number of workers needed.

The most effective means of increasing the income of the poor is not to demand an increase of wages, but to stimulate the demand for labor to the point that companies are induced to pay more by choice.