The idea of ​​having a federal minimum wage is a good idea. The idea is to protect low-skilled and unskilled workers from discrimination and allow all workers to earn a living wage. The recent debate, however, is over whether or not to raise the minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. President Barack Obama made the proposal during his annual State of the Union address on January 28, and subsequently led to much heated debate on the subject. The debates focused not only on the advantages and disadvantages of increasing the minimum wage, but also on the alternatives to this increase. There are many benefits to raising the minimum wage, most of which are fairly simple to understand and make one think that there are many benefits to raising the minimum wage. This is not a reason not to increase the minimum wage. The first and most important benefit of raising the minimum wage is that most workers would be able to work to earn a living wage, a wage high enough for workers to maintain a normal standard of living. This is very important because more people being able to maintain a normal standard of living means there are fewer people living at or below the poverty line. Beyond this point, raising the minimum wage, thereby increasing the number of workers able to earn a living wage, will reduce the need for social programs, such as unemployment, welfare, SNAP, etc., because it there will be fewer people living at this level. or below the poverty line who are eligible for these programs. Second, a higher minimum wage will provide more incentive for workers to work and will also incentivize the inactive population to join the labor force and seek employment. Adding more people to the workforce means businesses have a larger... middle of paper ... or a higher minimum wage. " The New York Times February 8, 2014: SR10. Print.Henderson, David R.. "Most of the benefits of a minimum wage increase would not accrue to poor households." Most of the benefits of a minimum wage increase would not benefit poor households, January 13, 2014. Web February 22, 2014. "Minimum Wage Laws in the United States - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - United States Department of Labor Laws." minimum wage in the United States - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - United States Department of Labor, January 1, 2014. Web. April 22, 2014. .Barro, Josh. “minimum wage increase.” BloombergView.com, February 13, 2014. Web.. 2014. .