When you hear minimum wage, what comes to your mind? Is it the person behind the counter, checking out your groceries? Or is it the gas man at Shell pumping gas into your car for the next fifty miles? Minimum wage is the lowest regular payment permitted by law or by a special agreement (Merriam-Webster). Today, Oregon’s highest minimum wage is $9.25 per hour, compared to the District of Columbia at $11.50 per hour and hopefully to be raised to $15 per hour in the next couple of years. Some people may say raising the minimum wage will help them support their family better, meet the cost of living, and help create equalities among the poor and the rich. While other think raising the minimum wages would give less opportunity for those who are interested or in needs of job. Raising the minimum wage in Oregon would affect everyone.
Over the last forty years, Oregon has increased the minimum wage from $1.26 in 1968 to $8.95 in 2013 in the article of “Oregon’s minimum wages:1968-2014”. Flash forward to  today and People are still considering raising the minimum wage higher, because the cost of living is increasing at a higher rate, making it hard for families to survive. For example, in the article of “How raising the federal minimum wage would help working families and give the economy” a boost, Cooper and Hall discusses  how raising the minimum wage can “benefit from people from different genders, ages, races, ethnicities, educational attainments, work hours, family incomes, and family compositions.” While others think this would be a bad thing, many are at a disadvantage because of the definition of who they are (Cooper and Hall). The article titled “The Pros and Cons of Raising the Minimum Wage” details how other prices of living cost will increase even higher, and there could be less employees working (Halvorson). In other words, raising the minimum wage will help other families with the living cost, while others still don’t have a job. This is important because this shows that not everybody wants the minimum wages to be raised. Raising the minimum wage isn’t only happening in Oregon, but it also in all the fifty states and other countries around the world, besides  developing countries. Developing countries do not have minimum wages because they don’t want to have a high rate of unemployment in their countries. In Claire Boyte-White’s article titled “5 Developed Countries without Minimum Wage”, she states, “Others feel any minimum wage discourages businesses from hiring more employees, so the issue of how much employees are paid should be left to the free market to determine” . This means that some countries do not want minimum wages to be raised because there would be more unemployments, rather than more employment opportunities. It is important to know that not everyone wants a higher minimum wages.

While Oregon would like  a $15 minimum wages in  the next few years. In the article of “How raising the federal minimum wage would help working families and give the economy a boost”  they said, “ … raising the minimum wage puts more money in the pockets of working families when they need it most, thereby augmenting their spending power. Economists generally recognized that low-wage workers are more likely than any other income group to spend any extra earning immediately on previously unaffordable basic needs or service” (Cooper and Hall). Not only does raising the minimum wage help workers, but it provides an economic boost. This is important because raising the minimum wage would help a diverse multitude of American workers while also increasing the economic benefits such as less unemployment and less people would get needed help from the government supports.

Raising the minimum wages will have a huge change and impact on the workers. One person who demonstrates this perspective from Jackson Dejun, who has been working at Walgreen for three years, protested this summer for higher wages. In Jane Emily’s article “Raising the minimum”, “Dejun is working more than 70 hours a week with only $8.75 at Chick-fil-A, and $10.22 at Walgreens. On top of that, he raises two little girls, a five year old son and a four year old daughter. He states that the only time he spends with his children is on weekends, because of all the day and night shifts he has to work in order to provide for his family. The kids are also in daycare which cost them $150 each month. Their mom also works at Walgreens, earning $10 an hour. Dejun is also in school trying to get his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology, and hoping one day he’ll only have to work for one job, with a well payment” (Jane). In other words, Dejun has a busy life. Dejun and his wife are overworking each week, making a small amount of money at local store marketing. Both are working to the hardest and best of their ability in order to take care of their family. This is important for minimum wage to be raised because with higher minimum wages, families can live better lives. It can also reduces poverty as well.

One perspective is that raising the minimum wage would make finding work harder for teens. In Chad Halvorson’s article, “The Pros and Cons of Raising the Minimum Wage,” he says, “If minimum wage increases, overly qualified individuals will be vying for minimum wage positions, pushing younger, inexperienced workers out of the running and robbing them of their opportunity to gain experience and knowledge to build a resume for themselves and enter the workforce” (Halvorson). If minimum wage were to be raised, the workforce will be more competitive, leaving no space for teenagers to gain the experience they need. This can be applied to all teenagers who are without a job, making a pathway for teenagers without work experience, later on making it even harder for them to apply and work at a real job.

In conclusion, minimum wage has risen over the past few years, but there are others who think the minimum wage should be raised even more. There are people who are out there trying to have a good life, with a well paying job and by raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour in the next couple of years, it will reducing the number of impoverished families. While others think it will take away opportunities and make the unemployed more disadvantaged. The next time you go out and get your gas pumped or go get groceries, thinks about the service they are doing for you, and how much they are being paid. Next time when you’re on the phone or a canvassers come by your house and asked you if you want higher minimum wages, you can support the workers out there, including you, by voting yes.