# FILE NAME: 00001907.soc
# TITLE: Should the minimum wage be raised to £20 per hour? [cde80d8311e31f9c5801abd2581b19a3]
# DESCRIPTION: 
# DATA TYPE: soc
# MODIFICATION TYPE: original
# RELATES TO: 
# RELATED FILES: 
# PUBLICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# MODIFICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# NUMBER ALTERNATIVES: 4
# NUMBER VOTERS: 5
# NUMBER UNIQUE ORDERS: 4
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 1: Statement 1 - The minimum wage should be increased but not to £20 per hour. There are several factors to consider, and no decision should be made lightly. On the one hand, the minimum wage is set so low that it is not viable for people to survive on it. If they work 40 hours a week they will be earning less than £15,000 per year, and that is just not enough to cover living costs. It is simply not right that someone who works 40 hours a week should be living in poverty. This should be considered. However, the other side of the argument is that the cost of living is rising, and many businesses will not be able to cover the cost of the wage increase. They will either be forced to close or they will pass on the cost to customers, which will not benefit anyone. Another factor is that other jobs will also see their wage rise as a result, which will have an impact on the cost of living. For example, it will be less viable to hire builders or other higher paid workers. However, the balance of the argument goes in favour of a rise in the minimum wage. It is simply not acceptable for a worker to be living in poverty.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 2: Statement 2 - “The minimum wage should be increased to £15 an hour.”
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 3: Statement 3 - In general, the minimum wage should be raised to £20 per hour, but in certain circumstances, it should be raised to a lesser amount. For example, if the business is struggling to stay afloat, then the wage should be raised to a lesser amount.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 4: Statement 4 - “The minimum wage should be raised to £20 per hour. This would mean that people would be able to afford the cost of living and not have to struggle to make ends meet. It would also mean that they would be able to afford luxuries, such as holidays and days out. This would also mean that people would be able to afford to pay their way in life and not have to rely on the government to support them. This would mean that the government would save money and could use this money to help the economy in other ways. However, there would be a downside to this. This would mean that small businesses would struggle to afford to pay their employees and would have to make cutbacks. This would mean that some people would lose their jobs. This would mean that people would be worse off and would struggle to make ends meet.”
2: 1,4,3,2
1: 1,2,4,3
1: 4,1,3,2
1: 4,3,1,2