Essay, Research Paper: Minimum Wage

Minimum wage is a very important thing to have in our nation. It keeps companies from paying unskilled employees to low, or anyone for that matter. If there was no minimum wage then a person could get paid 50 cents an hour for hard work just because they can't get a job anyplace else. Also, minimum wage helps reduce welfare. Otherwise, everyone would be getting paid so little, that almost every family in the country would be on welfare. I plan on showing you the who, when, how, and where of minimum wage, and any changes that I would like to see.
Minimum wage applies to those who are formally employed, meaning those that are working under someone with a business license. An informal occupation, for example, would be someone working as a baby-sitter or a lawnmower. Minimum wage doesn't apply to those who aren't employed, seeing as how they don't get a pay check.
The only time that minimum wage applies is when you work; when you have the actual job. The big question is when should it be adjusted. It seems reasonable to bump it up whenever it starts to fall behind inflation. However, that doesn't mean that it should change as rapidly as inflation does. I think that if were adjusted annually then people wouldn't fall far enough behind for it to really matter. Perhaps when it is changed, it should be above inflation too, just to make up for the time that you were behind. Think of it this way; after awhile the value of your dollar is going to drop. It might end up being worth only 85 cents at the end of the year. Therefore, to make up for the 15 cents per dollar, your would set the new minimum wage above inflation, making your dollar worth more that one dollar.
The next question is how should minimum wage be controlled? Should the state, local area, or federal government have the power to regulate it? I think that it would be most reasonable for the states to set the wage for their state, and then if an increase or decrease is needed in any particular area, then a new wage should be set just for that place. If the federal government controls it then it might be to unreasonable. Imagine the cost of a house in Anchorage, Alaska, as opposed to the cost of a house in Los Angeles, California. If the minimum wage is the same in both places, set just enough for the person living in Anchorage to pay their bills, then how do you expect the person living in Los Angeles to be able to afford his/her house. If the state had control, it'd just be easier.
So you see, minimum wage is definitely required to keep the economy of our nation from going berserk. Without it, I'm sure we'd only have two classes of society: the extremely wealthy, and the extremely poor. People would be exploited by their employers and most of the population would be miserable. With an annual increase to keep up with inflation, I don't believe we will have any problem keeping our country's economy up to speed with the rest of the world.