The minimum wage in our country has seen very little raise over the decades since the 70's has not caught up with inflation. Back then all it took was one person in the household to have a full-time job to keep their family doing well, now a household needs two incomes and even that doesn't always cut it. The minimum wage needs to be a living wage.
Back in the 70s, all it took was for dad to have a full-time, steady job to provide for his family, now in the present, it takes two incomes to get by. Nowadays it's really uncommon for someone to work two or even three jobs to provide for their families. The reason for this is because the minimum wage hasn't caught up with inflation since those times if we keep up the minimum wage would be around 26 dollars. We need to ease the burden families have in this country and make sure they get paid fairly.
Corporations will tell you that they simply can't afford to pay their employees a living wage, that it would be too much of a burden for them. They are flat-out lying to us. The Walton family ( The family that owns Walmart) make 15 billion each year, for them to pay their employees a livable wage it would cost 5 billion, I think they can handle getting 10 billion instead of 15 billion. Some will say, "Why should they be made to pay more? They made the company from the ground up!" These people forget that without the warehouse workers, the cashiers, and their stockers that they wouldn't have a company.
Some will say, "I'm a nurse or I'm a cop and I only make 15 dollars an hour, you want some cashier or some burger flipper to make as much as me even though I save lives?" You will not be making 15 dollars an hour, you will make more if we raise the minimum wage, this is about building the middle-class backup, and the way we do that is put money in their pockets so that they can stimulate the economy and promote growth.
Of course, the cost of living isn't the same everywhere. The cost of living in rural Tennessee is much lower than it is in New York City, that is why the minimum wage in each state should be adjusted to whatever the cost of living is for that certain area so that we can stimulate these areas and not destroy them.
The standard of living in our country has been a slow downfall since the 70's. What does it say about us as a nation when the standard of living for the young adults now and their children will be lower than their parents, that they will have to work twice as hard in hopes they can live comfortably and provide for their families. We need to raise the minimum wage not just for the now but for the future of our nation and her people.