The CBO report, The Budgetary Effects of the Raise the Wage Act of 2021, delivers a knockout blow to the unsubstantiated claim that minimum wage hikes do not decrease jobs. As the report states, “In 2025, when the minimum wage reached $15 per hour, employment would be reduced by 1.4 million workers (or 0.9 percent), according to CBO’s average estimate.”
That sentence alone should cause all who champion a national $15 minimum wage to think twice about their position. However, the report also notes, “CBO estimates that there is a one-third chance of that effect’s being between about zero and 1.0 million workers and a one-third chance of its being between 1.0 million and 2.7 million workers.”
That is astonishing. If the federal minimum wage is set to $15 per hour, by 2025, almost three million workers could be jobless. Given the dreadful employment situation in the United States due to COVID-19 lockdowns, America cannot afford to shed more jobs.
https://redstate.com/heartlandinstit...conomy-n324775
A brief look into this $15 federal thing, I learned a couple things.
Are States allowed to have their own minimum wage below what the feds would set ($15)? Yes .. but not for employees who would fall under the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act).
Who is considered FLSA? Basically everyone it seems. Only full time students, workers under 20 (1st 90 days of work) and disabled people would be exempt from the $15/hr. Businesses that don’t come under FLSA rules may be seasonal amusement parks, newspapers with circulations less than 4,000, small farms and more.
Fed min wage is currently $7.25 and hasnt been raised since 2009, longest stretch without a raise.
------------------------------
I dont think raising the minimum wage to $15 is a good idea. In areas like the DMV and other expensive to live parts of the country, the state or local min wage is already much higher than $7.25. DC - $15, MD $15 by 2025, Mass $15 by 2023, NY $15 by 2021.
vs places like Idaho, Wyoming, Kentucky, georgia, texas, louissiana at $7.25.
I went into this thinking fed min wage only applied to fed workers (2.1 m) and most of them probably make more than min wage anyway so this was a nothing thing. I was wrong.
honestly .. I dont see why a fast food worker in some small very affordable town in the sticks of Arkansas should make $15 an hour. Sure a Burger King in the sticks could probably handle it .. but a small business owner deli shop living in the margins already? or a florist? or local grocery store? no way.