Chat with us, powered by LiveChat write a formal policy memo to a current legislator on the policy you discussed in Section Two. The purpose is to inform a legislator of a social work position on the policy. - STUDENT SOLUTION USA

The memo should be no longer than 1 page. It should be 1.5 space and 12-point font. Students will write a formal policy memo to a current legislator on the policy you discussed in Section Two. The purpose is to inform a legislator of a social work position on the policy. This memo should be: accurate, Fact-based, informative and based on relevant information; logically constructed, easily comprehended in one reading, clearly organized and structured (heading, executive summary, subheadings). Positions should be informed by social work values and scholarly resources.  Avoid overgeneralizations, grandiose statements, illogical arguments, and misused words. Please see the Rubric and Policy Memo Template for additional instructions. 

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The Minimum Wage Policy

Shanae Hampton

SWK 520

Cal Baptist University

February 12, 2023

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Policy: Increasing the minimum wage

The federal government passed the minimum wage law indicating the minimum

amount a worker should be paid in the United States. According to Waltman (2000), the

minimum wage provides employees with a ground from which they should argue their pay.

The current minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25 per hour. Employers use different methods to

calculate employees’ wages per hour or day. The minimum wage is meant to protect

individuals who are desperate for jobs from exploitation by employers. The minimum wage is

important in the labor market as it provides the least figure at which workers should be

willing to offer their labor. The main goal of the minimum wage is to improve living

standards for families living in poverty and reduce the income inequality gap.

The term “minimum wage” dates back to the 1890s when countries such as Australia,

the UK, and the U.S. were finding ways of paying workers in the industries. In the 1900s, the

minimum wage policy spread to all the states in America and was used to determine the

minimum amount workers should be paid. Newmark and Wascher (2008) assert that the

minimum wage was introduced in the U.S. to control greedy employers who provided low

wages to employees. The opening federal minimum wage was introduced in the National

Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. President Roosevelt Franklin signed it into law, but it was

later declared unconstitutional. In 1938, it was corrected and set at $0.25 per hour under the

Fair Labor Standards Act. The minimum wage helped the government to secure fair pay for

all employees, especially unskilled workers. Since then, this policy has been widely accepted,

and experts believe increasing the minimum wage will reduce income inequality.

The policy focuses on low-income earners living in poverty. Many economists have

proposed increasing the minimum wage to $20 and linking it with the increase in the median

Philip Breitenbucher

Philip Breitenbucher

Philip Breitenbucher

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wage. This strategy will ensure the value of the minimum wage amount does not erode over

time. According to Scott (2020, p.1), this increase will lift over 4 million workers from

poverty and raise payment for over 30 million laborers directly and indirectly. A modest raise

will motivate workers to produce, increase employment rates, and ensure poor Americans

live above the poverty threshold.

Increasing the minimum wage al

 

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