您現在的位置: > Language Tips > Audio & Video > Normal Speed News  
     





     
    Congress debates minimum wage hike
    [ 2006-07-20 10:47 ]

    U.S. law has guaranteed most workers a minimum wage since the 1930s. The last increase in the wage was in 1997. Now Democrats in the U.S. Congress say it's time for another raise.

    Minimum wage workers in America: food service, hotel workers,and sales clerks all earn at least the federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour, a figure set in 1997. But Democrats in Congress are arguing that figure has not kept up with the times.

    Jared Bernstein is a senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute. "The role that it plays is that it provides a modicum of wage support for our lowest wage workers, many of whom are the most disadvantaged workers in our society. And if you look at who earns the minimum wage, you are going to find that it is disproportionately minorities."

    Economic Policy Institute statistics predict a minimum wage increase would affect about 15 million people in a workforce of 150 million. Only a few million workers actually depend on minimum wage jobs as their sole source of income.

    William Niskanen is chairman of the CATO institute, a policy center in Washington D.C. He is opposed to raising the minimum wage. He says it's bad economic policy. "It increases the price of hiring low skilled labor. That leads employers to do two things. One is to hire less low skilled labor. A second is that it leads them to economize on non-wage compensation and working conditions."

    Twenty states in the U.S. have set their minimum wage above the average $5.15 per hour mark. Jared Bernstein argues that figure is not a livable wage in today's economy. "The economy looks great from 40,000 feet, but on the ground, you have got some problems. We have quite strong growth in gross domestic product, which is a measure of economic growth. Productivity growth has been really quite stellar. But the wages and incomes of folks on the bottom half of the scale have been plodding along and in many years and quarters have been falling behind inflation."

    Bernstein does not believe raising the minimum wage will result in job losses. He argues that jobs were added after the last increase in 1997. "We have just never found these job loss effects. It is just an argument that completely lacks evidence."

    William Niskanen says improving the educational opportunities for low income families is a better way to fight poverty than raising the minimum wage.

    "The United States spends way more for public schooling than any nation in the world. And we place 15th, 20th in international tests in reading and mathematics. We have compared to the rest of the world a very poorly performing public school system."

    Democrats are using the issue to rally their base for the upcoming midterm congressional elections. Recently they threatened to block a congressional pay hike if Republicans would not relent on the issue. They say congressional salaries have raisen almost $32,000 a year since the last increase in the minimum wage.

    Vocabulary:          

    modicum :a small,token amount(少量,一點點;例如:a modicum of sleep<小睡>)

    plod along :緩慢的前進


    (來源:VOA  英語點津姍姍編輯


     

     
     

     

     

     
     

    48小時內最熱門

         

    本頻道最新推薦

         
      Immediate pay increase urged for U.S. teachers
      Space shuttle Discovery lands safely in Florida
      Do-it-yourself: Growing carrots
      EU fines Microsoft again
      G8 summit adopts sweeping action Plan






    亚洲熟妇无码八V在线播放 | 日本在线中文字幕第一视频| 人妻中文字系列无码专区| 一区二区中文字幕 | 免费无码又爽又黄又刺激网站 | 亚洲AV无码一区东京热久久| 欧美精品中文字幕亚洲专区| 国产成人无码a区在线视频| 在线播放无码高潮的视频| 亚洲日本欧美日韩中文字幕| 亚洲无码视频在线| 久久中文字幕无码专区| 无码国产精成人午夜视频一区二区| 天堂а√在线地址中文在线 | 欧美日韩亚洲中文字幕一区二区三区| 无码精品日韩中文字幕| 成人无码a级毛片免费| 最近更新2019中文字幕| 色欲综合久久中文字幕网| 亚洲中文久久精品无码| 国产精品无码一区二区在线观一| 亚洲av中文无码乱人伦在线r▽ | 特级做A爰片毛片免费看无码| 99精品久久久久中文字幕| 亚洲综合中文字幕无线码| 亚洲精品无码专区在线播放| 亚洲一级Av无码毛片久久精品 | 丰满人妻AV无码一区二区三区| 无码人妻一区二区三区免费看| 一本色道无码不卡在线观看| 中文字幕亚洲一区| 久久AV无码精品人妻糸列| 天堂中文8资源在线8| 久久精品中文字幕有码| 色综合久久中文字幕综合网 | 亚洲精品无码AV人在线播放| 日韩AV高清无码| 无码人妻AV一二区二区三区| 无码专区永久免费AV网站| 亚洲av无码成h人动漫无遮挡 | 亚洲av无码成h人动漫无遮挡 |