Minimum-wage employment

The issue which I have chosen to research during this course is the minimum wage. In particular, I am interested in how minimum-wage employment perpetuates poverty in the USA, provokes a further decline of the middle class, thus widening the gap between the wealthy and the have-nots. Logically, the target population can be described as low-income citizens of our country. According to the most recent census data, a record number of Americans, or almost 50 percent, have fallen into poverty or scramble by on earnings that qualify them as low income (USAToday.com, 2011).A growing body of literature indicates that the government has to become more serious about assisting people who, for this or that reason, end up landing a minimum-wage job. For example, in his book “You Want Fries With That?” (2008), Alexander describes the year of working a number of blue-collar jobs. His experiences definitely make it possible for the author to see more serious repercussions of the hierarchical way in which most businesses and organizations are run. What his tribulations taught me, however, is that raising the minimum-wage is not a panacea that will magically change the situation for better.As a future case worker, I believe that human service employees also need to focus their efforts on encouraging low-income citizens to go to college and get educated in order to land a fulfilling job which will offer a decent pay. Taking this course also helped me to realize that low-wage employees also deserve a better quality of life. Because we still need people who have to cook and serve the fast food or clean up construction sites, more solutions to the problem should be offered. Hence, in my future job, I plan to devise measures to assist low-income population. I hope that in this capacity, I will serve as an advocate of social justice.ReferencesAlexander, Prioleau. (2008). You Want Fries with That: A White-Collar Burnout Experiences Life at Minimum Wage. New York: Arcade Publishing.Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income. (2011, December 15). The USA Today. Retrieved from …