As more states and municipalities join the call to increase the minimum wage to $15/hour, recent studies have emerged detailing the effect of such adjustment. While the Congressional Budget Office released a report indicating that the increase would lead to a loss of jobs, an in-depth study conducted by the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment shows otherwise.
The minimum wage study evaluated state-level, as well as county and metro-level data in regions where the minimum wage has been raised. The study concluded that higher minimum wages do not have negative effects on employment – neither in the number of available jobs nor in the number of hours worked by minimum wage employees. The study also found positive effects, with a $15/hour minimum wage reducing household and child poverty, especially in agricultural communities that often have high numbers of minimum wage workers. The study also re-affirmed other findings – that raising the minimum wage reduces worker turnover, increases worker productivity, and bolsters consumer spending.
Federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), provides that all workers must be paid at least minimum wage. As employment lawyers dedicated to helping workers, we are hopeful that common-sense measures such as raising the minimum wage will soon become a reality for all workers.
For more information or for if you have any wage and hour questions, please contact the dedicated Atlanta wage and hour lawyers at Buckley Bala Wilson Mew LLP for an immediate case evaluation.