Impact of the Minimum Wage Rate Increase in the USA

Advocates for a minimum wage increase are of the opinion that the proposal to increase the minimum wage for contract workers and other workers is because the government feels that these workers are paid starvation wages. The government is seeking to restore confidence in the general public and will use all possible measures to bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots which would in effect speed the nation’s economic recovery. According to estimates, roughly 200.000 would directly benefit from this wage increase. The wage increase would increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour and would apply to service workers in federal buildings.

Usually, federal contract workers are paid a low minimum wage.  The purpose of this wage increase is to show the president as an ardent supporter of struggling Americans. Despite statistics showing that the increase in the minimum wages will only increase unemployment, advocate contending that all this talk about increasing unemployment is just scared to talk because according to them unemployment was never caused by the minimum wage rates. Small businesses also support the minimum wage increase because they feel that very low wages paid at corporate chains like McDonald’s and Wal-Mart do not give local communities the spending power for sustaining consumer demand.

Last week advocates released a national poll of small business owners which found that more than 57% of small businesses support the government’s minimum wage increase. The poll was commissioned by the Small Business Majority, which is an advocacy group for small businesses. They strongly believe that an increase in the minimum wage would promote consumer spending and would definitely create greater economic growth. The negative or positive impact of a minimum wage increase and how it will affect jobs is one of the most widely studied and most contentious topics in labor economics. Several surveys were carried out the affect that the increase in the minimum wage would have on jobs.

According to Express Employment Professional which is the country’s largest private employment firm which asked employers the impact that a minimum wage increase will have on their businesses.  According to some economists, raising the minimum wage is one way we can start to level the playing field for working families. People who work full-time should not live in poverty because currently, the minimum wage leaves a working parent with one child in poverty which is basically wrong. Currently, those at the top reap all the benefits. If minimum wages had been kept at par with productivity, it would be around $22 per hour.