# FILE NAME: 00002665.soc
# TITLE: Should we raise the minimum wage in the UK? [4485667abd698e18206abe47e7d490e5]
# 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: 5
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 1: Statement 1 - In general, the minimum wage in the UK should be raised. The cost of living is increasing and wages are not keeping up. This means that many people who are working are living in poverty and relying on benefits to survive. This is not a sustainable situation and it is not fair that people who are working are living in poverty. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that people who are working are able to live. It is also the responsibility of employers to ensure that their staff are paid a living wage. This means that the minimum wage should be raised and it should be a legal requirement that all employers pay their staff a living wage.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 2: Statement 2 - We believe that the minimum wage should be raised in the UK. We feel that this is the case because of the increasing cost of living and energy crisis. The current minimum wage does not reflect the increase in living costs and therefore it is not enough for people to survive on. We feel that the minimum wage should be raised so that people are not on the verge of homelessness or needing council help. We feel that this is the responsibility of the government to ensure that people are not living in poverty and that they are able to survive on the minimum wage. We feel that the government should not be passing this responsibility onto private companies as they are not responsible for the cost of living crisis. We feel that it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that the cost of living does not increase so much that the minimum wage does not reflect this.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 3: Statement 3 - We believe that the minimum wage should be raised in the UK to reflect the rising cost of living. However, it is the responsibility of the private sector to ensure that this increase in wages does not get passed back to the consumer/customer. We believe that it is the responsibility of the government to reduce the cost of living for the poorest in society. We believe that this will lift people out of poverty and give them a better chance of getting out of poverty. However, if people are on minimum wage and are receiving benefits to top up their wage, then this is also helpful and can counteract their low wage.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 4: Statement 4 - In general, the group was in favour of raising the minimum wage in the UK. However, it was noted that it would be difficult for smaller companies to cope with this and the increase in wages would be passed on to the consumer/customer. It was also noted that the minimum wage is not a living wage and so people on the minimum wage would still struggle to survive. It was agreed that people on the minimum wage should be given incentives to work and be rewarded for their hard work, but without passing on the cost to the consumer/customer. The group felt that the minimum wage should be raised to a level that is a living wage and this would help people to get out of poverty. The group felt that this would be a better way of helping people out of poverty rather than giving them benefits. It was agreed that this should fall on private companies to increase wages rather than the government having to pick up the shortfall.
1: 2,4,1,3
1: 3,4,1,2
1: 4,1,3,2
1: 2,1,3,4
1: 4,3,1,2