By Marlyn Rodriguez |Managing Editor|

Raising minimum wage can be a controversial topic because while some may agree others will disagree and both with strong opposing opinions.

Jeff Jacoby, a Boston Globe columnist stated, “When legislators raise the price of low- and unskilled labor, its usually low- and unskilled laborers who end up paying the price.”

The argument is that raising minimum wage will only cause a downward spiral to the people who support it most.

Receiving a higher income for people who earn the minimum sounds like a dream come true.

In reality, the people who are advocates of the cause are going to be the ones dealing with the consequences when they are being over-worked because the company who was paying employees minimum wage, now has to find a way to pay them more than they were paying before as well as maintaining their average income.

With employers limiting how many employees they hire, unemployment rates will sky rocket at the same rate as minimum wage.

Raising minimum wage in the past has not been shown to decrease the poverty rates. Instead studies show that their is little to no correlation between minimum wage and the level of poverty.

The first federal minimum wage was set at 25 cents per hour in 1938.

When the minimum wage standard was set, many people lost their jobs. In that time period the people affected were specifically African-American.

Even though the U.S. government has seen the consequences of raising minimum wage, they have not stopped taking similar measures.

Congress has decided to raise minimum wage 22 times since the first time they set the standard in 1938.

Raising minimum wage seems like an ideal concept for the employees and a problem for the employers.

In reality, the ones who are affected are the employees because life will become more difficult for people who are seeking entry level employment yet demanding the wage of a person who is skilled.

Companies will feel that it is illogical to pay untrained, unskilled employees a larger amount for the experience they don’t have.

Experience is going to become the vital requirement that employers will look for.

They will be looking for someone who can meet the demands expected of a smaller workforce while doing the same amount of work required by the company when there were more employees.

Another argument is that after minimum wage is raised the only thing that will happen is that everything will increase in price proportionately.

Of course the prices won’t increase drastically as soon as the increase in minimum wage, but it will happen slowly and gradually.

After raising minimum wage and increasing the price of everything else, people who thought they were making more will actually be making the same.

Once its all said and done, they would be paying the same they were paying before, while earning the same they were earning before, just with different numbers on the price tag.

It will balance itself and we will end up in the same place.