A family of four is on government welfare, has no health or auto insurance, and lives paycheck to paycheck because both parents earn the minimum wage. Parents cannot provide for the family because they barely earn enough money to pay the bills. According to Driscoll, there is evidence that “a family of three earning the minimum wage is still below the poverty level.” President Obama has proposed raising the minimum wage to $9.00, but no action has been taken on his behalf. So Congress needs to raise the minimum wage to help the general well-being of the people. The minimum wage is the minimum amount of money an employer can pay its workers per hour. For example, the minimum wage in Virginia is $7.25 per hour. Ford points out in his article on the minimum wage increase: “The minimum wage rose to $5.85 in the summer of 2007 and to $6.55 in the summer of 2008 with plans for an eventual value of $7.25 in the summer of 2009”. However, different states have different minimum wages. For example, Washington has the highest minimum wage at $9.19 an hour and Georgia has the lowest wage at $5.15 an hour. But according to the National Employment Wage Project, “if the United States had managed to keep pace with inflation over the past 40 years, the minimum wage would be $10.74 an hour.” This is $3.49 more than the current minimum wage, which would be $7,259.20 more per year (before taxes). Raising the minimum wage would stimulate the economy in many ways. According to the article Raising the Minimum Wage: A Guide to Critical Analysis, “it would increase the purchasing power of many workers whose wages would rise.” Another way it would help the economy is that it would decrease the amount of people who would need public assistance… middle of paper… October 2013. .Jacobs, WEHoagland, Steve. “Counterpoint: Minimum wages are unjustified economic interference.” Viewpoints: Raising the Minimum Wage (2013): 2. Viewpoints Reference Center. Network. November 8, 2013.Jacobs, WEHoagland, Steve. “Counterpoint: Minimum wages are unjustified economic interference.” Viewpoints: Raising the Minimum Wage (2013): 2. Viewpoints Reference Center. Network. November 8, 2013. "Minimum Wage Increase: A Guide to Critical Analysis." Viewpoints: Raising the minimum wage (2013): 4.Viewpoints Reference Centre. Network. October 28, 2013."Rebuilding an economy that works for all of us." Facts. NELP and Web. November 11, 2013. Sperling, Gene and Alan Krueger. "The White House Blog." Raising the minimum wage is good for the economy. The White House, July 24, 2013. Web. October 28. 2013.