02.27.14

State-By-State Analysis Of Minimum Wage Increase

Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee worked with staff of the Employment Policies Institute to prepare an information sheet for each state on how the proposed increase in the minimum wage would affect employment and who would be affected.  The Minimum Wage Fairness Act (S. 1737) calls for an increase in the Federal minimum wage from its current level of $7.25 to $10.10 over a two-year period. While the intention of improving the incomes of minimum wage workers is laudable, most economic research—including 85% of the best studies on the subject from the last two decades—finds that raising the minimum wage reduces job opportunities for young, at-risk workers. The Employment Policies Institute estimates that nearly a million job opportunities could be eliminated if the minimum wage rose to $10.10.

Find your state in the linked document below to see how employment would change if the Senate adopted S. 1737.

To view the complete analysis as a PDF, please click here.