Two-Thirds Of Americans Support Raising Minimum Wage: Poll

Two-thirds of Americans support raising the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour, according to a new poll. The federal minimum wage rose in 2009 to $7.25, which amounts to about $15,000 a year.

"This poll is yet another affirmation that maintaining a strong minimum wage is a core American value," said National Employment Law Project director Christine Owens in a statement. "Americans overwhelmingly support a minimum wage rate that will help working families make ends meet and provide the boost the economy needs for full recovery."

The survey, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute to plumb American attitudes on religion, values, and politics, found that 67 percent of respondents favor hiking the minimum wage to $10 an hour. Even a majority of Republicans -- 51 percent -- favor the higher minimum wage. But among people who identified themselves as belonging to the Tea Party, 50 percent oppose raising the minimum wage and only 47 percent favor doing so.

The minimum wage, first instituted in the 1930s, would be above $10 today already if it had kept pace with inflation, according to NELP.

A handful of Republican candidates in recent weeks have suggested the minimum wage needs another look. It's an issue Democrats would be more than happy to fight about.

"When you talk about taking a run at the minimum wage, it seriously undermines any efforts that we want to have to address or redress our disparities," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in an interview with HuffPost on Tuesday. "And it's a challenge to our sense of community that people could think it would be okay to start going backward. These were fights of 100 years ago."

Just 980,000 U.S. workers earn exactly the minimum wage, and 2.6 million earn less, according to the Labor Department. Those groups make up just 4.9 percent of hourly-paid workers. The progressive Economic Policy Institute estimated (PDF) that an additional 1.6 million workers making slightly more than the minimum would benefit from the 2009 increase due to "spillover effects" that preserve the wage structure in a firm.

Comments

[CSRyan18]

07:59 AM on 11/01/2010

Minimum wage laws or a Price Floor, a law requiring that a price for a certain good be kept above some level, always creates labor surpluses (unemployment) because the price of hiring new workers unskilled experience is too high.
“The minimum wage makes some workers better off, but it leaves others – usually the youngest, least-trained workers – without jobs at all. A study by economists this summer compared the change in employment in states where the minimum wage rose (37 of them) to those where it stayed the same (13.) In the states where the minimum wage rose, unemployment rose more. The total effect? 114,000 teen jobs lost.” (Stossel).
Although having minimum wage laws may sound like a great idea, in reality they do more harm than good.

Stossel, John. "One Republican Gets It « John Stossel." John Stossel. Web. 01 Nov. 2010. .

[CSRyan18]

07:59 AM on 11/01/2010

While two thirds of Americans think that raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10 an hour is a wise decision, I would argue that it is not using basic economics also known as the theory of common sense. Minimum wage laws try to guarantee that everybody who works will earn a decent living. However, having minimum wage laws create problems too. Let’s suppose that the minimum wage does go up from $7.25 to $10, a $2.75 increase. Some may argue that those exploitive businesses may be able to make up for that $2.75 loss. However, let’s suppose that a company with 10,000 employees who earn the minimum wage have to make these adjustments. That would be, in actuality, a $27,500 (2.75 X 10,000) loss per hour of the company and a loss of $220,000 for the company per day if all 10,000 employees had an eight hour work day. So how does the business make up for these losses? The answer is very simple. They have to cut back on the factor of production that costs the most money for the company to use and under most circumstances it is human labor which can make up to 90% of all business costs. As a result, the business has to lay off many of its employees, usually the least productive ones.

[JLSR]

08:42 PM on 10/08/2010

I posted this as a response below, but thought it was worth repeating:

If you have blinders on and can't see that the neocons are purely in it for the money they can make for themselves, their cronies, and the large corporations that they invest in (and who, personally, put money in the pols' pockets to get them to side with them), that the Rightwing is helping them ship American jobs overseas (because it is more monetarily feasible for those corporations), and that the Rightwingers are taking donations, in the form of adverising, from foreign businesses (through the American Chambers of Commerce), to keep the politicians sending our jobs and trade out to them--you do not understand a thing. Any person in this country who makes less than $250,000 and is pro-Republican or belongs to the Republican party; anybody who believes the neocons when they say giving tax breaks to the richest 2% in this country will create jobs is so, completely, deluded and brain-washed, there is no point talking sense to any of you.

[beaniencecil]

02:14 AM on 10/08/2010

Minimum wage has never kept up with inflation AT ALL.

[wdw505]

09:22 AM on 10/08/2010

and it should not keep up........4.9% is no big deal

[beaniencecil]

02:13 AM on 10/08/2010

2/3 plus one!

[wdw505]

09:23 AM on 10/08/2010

but how many surveyed were voters

[The Rewd]

01:44 AM on 10/08/2010

In related news, two thirds of employed and better paid Americans see themselves working minimum wage jobs in the very near future thanks to Obamanomics.

[wdw505]

09:24 AM on 10/08/2010

too funny

[Ed Stadick]

12:22 AM on 10/12/2010

In states like Illinois where min wage is $8.25/hour(higher then 44 other states), they will be fortunate to get a job even at min wage. Here it is next to impossible for college graduates to get jobs at McDonalds or Wal-Mart despite months and years of desparately trying.

[FoonTheElder]

03:29 PM on 10/07/2010

This is something you will never see on Fox or big corporate owned and supported mainstream media.  It might cost them advertising dollars from McDonalds and other advertisers.

[Rasheed Kalifani Knowles]

03:29 PM on 10/07/2010

Inflation has been consistent for the last 35 years. [In spite of this]The minimum wage increases have stagnated to the degree that it takes two incomes & a sacrifice of family time just to live from paycheck to paycheck. Many live in desperate times as the wealthy wine about giving back. The majority is heard but ignored by the 'representative ' governing body.While government officials make wh*ring out to be the most lucrative profession.
At what point does the majority stick up for themselves instead of ignoring the grass roots efforts of youth & Labor Unions. Half the Supreme Court should be impeached for the jeopardy they put us in-- mandating Bush & now ruling corporations as 'people' thru Citizens United.
Corporations & Wall Street lobbyists send out 'flying monkeys' in the form of PAID dissenters .ie Tea Baggers,Faux News,99%right-wing radio dominion over the airwaves,blogger trolls,et al. And the pretend news shoves all but what is REALITY down our throats to the degree that one doubts their own perception thereof.
So drug & alcohol abuse increases further rendering society ineffectual.
Ayn Rand is the right/white-wing's Malcolm X,messaging----Revel in your hatred for the poor & the feeble. If they are less fortunate,whether by birth or by circumstances then they deserve it. If hard times fall upon you then it is simply unfair [says an inflated sense of self-importance] & you demand government & public bailouts.
WELCOME TO THE REALITY OF THE UNITED STATES 2010.
Enjoy your stay.

[wdw505]

09:25 AM on 10/08/2010

minimum wage jobs are mainly starter jobs ............no big deal

[Rasheed Kalifani Knowles]

02:43 PM on 10/07/2010

Government benefits to the wealthy add up to $400 billion a year, compared to the $116 billion spent on programs for the poor. http://tiny.cc/bdrfu

[alhorvath]

02:26 PM on 10/07/2010

It does nothing for employment, but it does a lot to create inflation, which reduces the income of everyone.

[Rasheed Kalifani Knowles]

02:50 PM on 10/07/2010

Inflation has only been consistent for the last 35 years. [In spite of this]The minimum wage increases have stagnated to the degree that it takes two incomes & a sacrifice of family time just to live from paycheck to paycheck.
What do you suggest?

[wdw505]

09:33 AM on 10/08/2010

get a better job

[FoonTheElder]

03:30 PM on 10/07/2010

Right wing economists have predicted six of the last one periods of high inflation.

[toddag]

01:23 PM on 10/07/2010

Raising the minimum wage would not be a good idea right now. Wait until the unemployment rate is down to a respectable percentage. It is nearly impossible to live at the minimum wage, I know. I currently don't make much more than that myself. But right now, we need employers to be hiring as many people as possible. An employer that could afford to hire 4 people at $7.25/hr may only be able to hire 3 people at $10.

I will fight against lowering the minimum wage, but right now I could not support raising it.

[FoonTheElder]

03:32 PM on 10/07/2010

You mean when the unemployment rate was 4 1/2% during the Bush Administration and workers wages went nowhere in spite of a supposed shortage or workers.  Sounds like something besides the free market at work there.

[wdw505]

09:28 AM on 10/08/2010

no shortage when you can still hire people

[Beatcomber]

02:32 PM on 10/08/2010

You don't make much more than the minimum wage but you don't support raising it?

Yea, I sure you don't make much more than minimum wage ....... and pigs fly.

Save your b.s. for another website.

[castleblanca]

01:17 PM on 10/07/2010

So, 2/3 of Americans want to raise the minimum wage.

The only problem with that is that the "yet larger 1/3" is against it.

You know. All "thirds" are not created equal.

[wdw505]

09:28 AM on 10/08/2010

no we are not

[PartyOfMaybe]

01:08 PM on 10/07/2010

and I still think that it's hilarious that, at the end of a long and serioius news story about the impending doom that is America, the only expert that was available for comment was the secretary of state in Ohio... apparently the school board president and the chief mechanic at the chevrolet dealership were busy, so we got stuck with her as an "expert"

[jjones444]

04:16 PM on 10/11/2010

Who wouldn't be in favor of raising the minimum wage? The economic state of this country is ridiculous right now, and thousands of people are taking jobs they are overqualified for. Many people are trying techniques to keep our money in the country as well. Rather than buying foreign cars, for example, many people are going to a Ford or chevrolet dealership to buy cars that are American-made. I'm all up for raising minimum wage, but where is the extra money going to come from?

[PartyOfMaybe]

01:06 PM on 10/07/2010

I think the average poor person would actually make more if we abolished the minimum wage. If some folks do such sorry work that it is only worth $2/hr, then the two hard-working beside him can make $10/hr. Who cares if it's not equal? What happened to an honest day's work for an honest day's pay?

[Alexandra Mandelis]

02:40 PM on 10/07/2010

But the evidence shows that we are incapable of determining which labour is valuable. It's why Wall Street speculators got the bailout, while teachers are living in poverty if they're working at all.

[FoonTheElder]

03:36 PM on 10/07/2010

The same thing that happened to an honest days profits for oligopolistic, market controlling big corporations and their race to the bottom of the wage scale.  The only thing that will make them happy is to go back to the 19th century or robber barons and poverty wages, which we are well on our way to achieving.

The free market is bunk.  If there was a free market for wages, why did wages go nowhere when the unemployment rate was at 4 1/2% and employers were complaining about a lack of workers?  Corporations want a free market when it is to their advantage, but do their best to destroy it when it is to their disadvantage.

[liberty23]

11:19 PM on 10/07/2010

Is there anything that you don't want someone in Washington to regulate or hand you?

[PartyOfMaybe]

11:39 AM on 10/08/2010

Are you making up words again, Sarah Palin?

[lorenzo48]

01:03 PM on 10/07/2010

I see the trolls have really rolled out the talking point lies on this thread, minimum wage hikes create unemployment, I guess Mcdonalds is just going to shut down all their stores because they have to pay a dollar more an hour to their workers. By far the biggest beneficiaries of a low minimum wage are multinationals like Mcdonalds, the entire food industry in general, retail {Walmarts, Target} etc, so if you think they are either going to close down, or not staff their stores you need to tell this whopper on some red stain site, the other flat out lie is that FDR lengthened the depression thru governement spending. In fact the one year they cut back on spending the economy went straight down the toilet {1936} but under Republican pressure he cut spending on relief to balance the budget. So trolls why is it that Canada, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, all heavily unionized, higher minimum wage, government sponsored healthcare systems, then why do they have dramatically better economies and much lower unemployment than we do?

[MarkAntney]

01:28 PM on 10/07/2010

I think they'll tell you (the Conservatives) is that their President/leader isn't from Kenya?

And though seen his father only twice in his lifetime, fully obsorbed and practices his father's ideology?

Oh and their leader isn't a Muslim? or is it a Radical Christian?

I lose track:):):):)

Oh and I love their new one, how the Depression was exasperated and lengthened by FDR?

I asked a Conservative friend of mine after he told me that one, I said,

"But you'll still concede he fixed it, right?":):):)

[Blue Pup in PHX]

02:06 PM on 10/07/2010

I know! The insanity of the McDonalds analogy again. Yeesh. McDonalds can afford to pay each and every one of it's workers an additional $2.75 per hour. Honestly. They can. And no, it won't crater the entire economy, nor will it spell then end of the McCholestorol heart attack Macs they foist onto a soon to be too sick to work American public.

How do I KNOW this? Ever read an annual revenue report from a corporation? All publicly held corporations are required to create them, each and every freaking year, because they are accountable to their stock holders. So last year was pretty freaking bad all around right? Every sector of the economy took a hit, lost jobs, lost homes, lost savings, blah blah blah... you still with me? good. So how did ole McD's fair in all this? Did they suffer? Are they on the brink of financial collapse, barely able to keep the doors open? Hardly.

"2009 revenues at McDonald's Corp. totaled $22.7B, while annual earnings equaled $3.98 per share."

That's right they EARNED $22.7 BILLION dollars last year.

But that's not the entire picture now is it. How much did the CEO of McDonalds make? I mean fair is fair, the dude at the top,is he suffering from this downward spiral? Mmmmm... not so much:

2009 Total Cash Compensation: $9,443,486

2009 Total Stock Options: $8,960,344

His total earnings in stock and cash was just under $20 million.

[Blue Pup in PHX]

02:08 PM on 10/07/2010

Ran out of room to post my sources... but never fear here they are:

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/earnings/earnings.asp?ticker=MCD:US
http://www.qsrmagazine.com/articles/features/118/bottom_line-1.phtml

Sounds pretty stupid to be kevetching about how McDonald's can't pay it's workers $2 and 75 cents more per hour, now doesn't it?

Sure it does.

[CapriRS302]

04:07 PM on 10/07/2010

You my friend, are an economic idiot.

Companies like McDonald's don't just pop up overnight. They are built over years of hard work, and more importantly a mountain of RISK!!! For every McDonald's, there were thousands of companies, and millions of dollars that were lost on failed ventures. What you see when McDonald's gets a profit, is the fruits of all of that labor, and all of that risk. Why should they share it with somebody who has agreed to flip butgers for them? That person hasn't shared in the risk.

Riddle me this, my liberal friend. What if McDonald's suddenly got a bleeding heart like you, and decided to pay each of its employees that extra $2.50 per hour, but suddenly business went sour, and instead of making 22 billion, everybody started eating at Jack in the Box and McDonald's was actually in the negative for the year. Would the employees say to themselves " our employer actually LOST money this year, we should give some of our earnings back to the company...." I think not. They would take the money and run. And if McDonald's shut down, they wouldn't care, they'd just move on to the next place.

Do you get the point?

If you want to make it fair, then there needs to be risk. How about having every McEmployee work on commission? .10 per burger or something like that, then more work = more pay, less work = less pay, hmmmmmm.......