Economic Inequality PBATs

Background on Minimum Wage

You must answer the following questions in the background section of your paper:

• What is a minimum wage?

• What is the federal min wage?

• When was it last changed?

• What is a living wage?

• Should the minimum wage also be a living wage?

Data Sources/Surveys

Data 1 - The US minimum wage through the years

Pew Research Center - Two-thirds of Americans favor raising federal minimum wage to $15 an hour

Gallup - U.S. Small-Business Owners Split on Raising Minimum Wage

U.S. Department of Labor - Minimum Wage Overview

Connection to Covid-19 Stimulus Payments

Opinion: Raise the minimum wage so working pays more than being unemployed

This is the average unemployment insurance payment in every U.S. state without the extra $600 in federal aid

Pro

Pro 1 - It’s not just paychecks: The surprising society-wide benefits of raising the minimum wage

Pro 2 - They Said Seattle’s Higher Base Pay Would Hurt Workers. Why Did They Flip?

Pro 3 - Almost half of all Americans work in low-wage jobs

Pro 4 - Minimum wages and the distribution of family incomes in the United States - Equitable Growth

Pro 5 - Higher state minimum wage tied to lower suicide rates

Pro 6 - VIDEO - Con el año nuevo llega la subida del salario mínimo a 21 estados y 26 ciudades y condados

Pro 7 - Minimum wage doesn't cover the rent anywhere in the U.S.

Pro 8 - (VIDEO) Democrats, keep your promise on the $15 minimum wage

Con

Con 1 - When does a minimum wage become too high?

Both

Both 1 - What does a $15 minimum wage do to the economy? Economists are starting to find out.

Both 2 - Esta pequeña ciudad tiene el salario mínimo más alto de EEUU. Pero los propietarios de restaurantes están furiosos

Both 3 - VIDEO - Así será el aumento del salario mínimo en California que entrará en vigencia a partir de 2019

Both 4 - Ventajas y desventajas de subir el salario mínimo

Both 5 - VIDEO - Opiniones divididas entre empleados de pequeños negocios por aumento del salario mínimo en Nueva York

Videos

All videos are available on Google Drive at this link.

Background on Public College

You must answer the following questions in the background section of your paper:

• What is public college vs private college?

• Why are people talking about free public college?

Pro

Pro 1 - College grads still earn more than workers with no university degree. This map shows the states with the widest salary gaps

Pro 2 - Price Of College Increasing Almost 8 Times Faster Than Wages

Pro 3 - I'm Drowning': Those Hit Hardest By Student Loan Debt Never Finished College

Pro 4 - Tuition or Dinner? Nearly Half of College Students Surveyed in a New Report Are Going Hungry

Pro 5 - I’m calling for something truly transformational: Universal free public college and cancellation of student loan debt

Pro 6 - The Education Scandal That's Bigger Than Varsity Blues

Pro 7 - The New Toll of American Student Debt in 3 Charts

Con

Con 1 - ‘Free College for All’ Is an Experiment That Has Already Failed

Con 2 - The Hidden Cost of Free College

Con 3 - Free college plans such as Elizabeth Warren's are pretty pricey. Some say her plan would benefit the rich most

Con 4 - R.I. governor wants to expand free college program, but some question price tag

Con 5 - How progressive is Senator Elizabeth Warren’s loan forgiveness proposal?

Con 6 - Here’s what it would take to make college tuition-free

Both

Both 1 - Procon.org - Free College

Both 2 - These five charts show how bad the student loan debt situation is

Videos

All videos are available on Google Drive at this link.

Background on Universal Healthcare

You must answer the following questions in the background section of your paper:

• What is universal healthcare?

• What is the American system? Do we have universal healthcare?

• What is Obamacare?

  • • When did Obamacare become a law?

    • What is a "preexisting condition"? How did it affect people's ability to get insurance?

    • What effect did Obamacare have on the number of people who were able to get insurance?

• What do other countries do to provide healthcare? You can cite to the movie Sicko for examples.

Connection to Covid-19

July 13, 2020 - Millions Have Lost Health Insurance in Pandemic-Driven Recession

Pro

Pro 1 - WHO definition of Universal Health Coverage

Pro 2 - Commonwealth Fund - Administrative Costs article

Pro 3 - An Elderly Couple Who Died In A Murder-Suicide Said They Could No Longer Afford Health Care

Pro 4 - Obamacare is closing the coverage gap between rich and poor, black and white - MarketWatch

Pro 5 - Every American family basically pays an $8,000 ‘poll tax’ under the U.S. health system, top economists say

Pro 6 - How Healthcare Costs Hurt American Workers and Benefit the Wealthy

Obama, Endorsing Biden, Says Obama Policies Aren’t Good Enough Now

America Can Afford a World-Class Health System. Why Don’t We Have One?

Con

Con 1 - Newsela article - Are there enough doctors for the newly insured?

Con 2 - Why is U.S. Health Care So Expensive? Some of the Reasons You've Heard Turn Out to be Myths

Both/Data

Both 1 - WaPo article - Does Bernie Sanders's plan cost $33 trillion or save $2 trillion?

World Bank Data:

• • Life expectancy

  • Diabetes prevalence (% of population ages 20 to 79)

  • Current Health Expenditure as a percentage of GDP

  • Current health expenditure per capita

  • Out-of-pocket expenditure per capita

  • Domestic general government health expenditure per capita

NYC Community Health Profiles

Videos

All videos are available on Google Drive at this link.