Source 1 In January 2021, legislators introduced the “Raise the Wage Act of 2021”, to increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2025. If passed, it would be the first increase in more than a decade, the longest stretch since 1938.

Source 1 Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would improve the overall standard of living for minimum wage workers. These workers would more easily afford their monthly expenses, such as rent, car payments, and other household expenses.

Source 1 Senator Bernie Sanders has also taken the position that the minimum wage needs to be $15, as he believes full-time workers should not fall below the poverty line.

Source 1 It has been argued that a second, less obvious, advantage to raising the minimum wage is not only will happy employees lead to a more productive workforce, but also could result in higher levels of customer satisfaction. Additionally, if employees are satisfied with their job and their pay, they are less likely to leave, which in turn reduces the employer’s hiring and training costs.

Source 1 Proponents argue that increasing the minimum wage to $15 also will benefit minority workers and women.

Source 1 A $15 minimum wage would give 31 percent of African Americans and 26 percent of Latinos a wage increase.

Source 1 Small businesses especially those of in a state with a low cost of living would be negatively affected by such a drastic increase in the minimum wage.

Source 1 Raising the minimum wage to $15 also would increase childcare costs in the United States.

Source 1 Another argument against the Raise the Wage of Act is the vastly different state economies, with drastically different costs of living. For example, to have the same minimum wage would be impractical in California and Oklahoma, as the average value of a home, according to Zillow.com, is $635,055 but only $143,173 in Oklahoma.

Source 2 It would lift millions of families out of poverty. More than a quarter of the workforce—40 million workers—would see a raise in wages.

Source 2 A vast majority of Americans (up to three quarters, including a majority across party lines) support raising the wage. In fact, over half the states have raised their minimum wages to restore basic fairness to the workforce.

Source 3 (32.1%) 909,000 workers in Wisconsin would benefit from increasing the minimum wage to $15 by 2024.

Source 3 Workers in Wisconsin who would benefit from increasing the minimum wage to $15: Women: 39.0%, Black and Latina Women 60.2%, Men 25.3%, and Black and Latino Men 51.4%.

Source 4 Raising the minimum wage strengthens workers' purchasing power and, in turn, provides a boost to the overall economy.

Source 5 The Congressional Budget Office projected that a minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $10.10 would result in a loss of 500,000 jobs.

Source 5 In a survey of 1,213 businesses and human resources professionals, 38% of employers who currently pay minimum wage said they would lay off some employees if the minimum wage was raised to $10.10. 54% said they would decrease hiring levels.

Source 5 A study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that although low-income workers see wage increases when the minimum wage is raised, “their hours and employment decline, and the combined effect of these changes is a decline in earned income… minimum wages increase the proportion of families that are poor or near-poor.”

Source 5 As explained by George Reisman, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Pepperdine University, “The higher wages are, the higher costs of production are. The higher costs of production are, the higher prices are. The higher prices are, the smaller the quantities of goods and services demanded and the number of workers employed in producing them.”

Source 5 Thomas Grennes, MA, Professor Emeritus at North Carolina State University, and Andris Strazds, MSc, Lecturer at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (Latvia), stated: “the net effect of higher minimum wages would be unfavorable for impoverished households, even if there are no job losses. To the extent that some poor households also lose jobs, their net losses would be greater.”

Source 6 Some argue that increasing the minimum wage can increase inflation because people will have more money available and therefore are more likely to spend it.

Source 7 A higher minimum wage leads to less reliance on government assistance such as food stamps.

Source 6 An increase to the minimum wage can result to smaller companies deciding to not want to pay more. Instead they will hire part-time going forward. Meaning these low-skilled jobs will essentially have less security for the workers, and they will potentially be earning less as well.

Source 7 Michael Strain, Director, Economic Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute, argues that raising the minimum wage would not help fight poverty because a lot of poverty comes from people not having jobs.

Source 8 Half of the US states are set to raise their minimum wages this year.

Source 8 & 9 California: $14 per hour, Massachusetts: $13.50 per hour, Florida: $8.65 per hour.

Source 10 Wisconsin will not raise its minimum wage this year remaining at $7.25/hour.

Source 9 Out of 21 states Wisconsin is one of them whose minimum wage is $7.25/hour.

Source 11 Governor of Wisconsin, Tony Evers, wants to start raising the minimum wage every year.

Source 11 Tony Evers believes we cannot raise the minimum wage straight to $15/per but instead in small amounts over time.

Source 11 The latest Marquette University Law School poll shows 57% of WI residents support an increase in the minimum wage.

Source 11 Most Republican lawmakers do not support the increase. They argue the cost of raising the minimum wag will fall on consumers in the form of higher prices.

Source 11 UW Milwaukee Economics Professor, John Heywood says about 30% of those who receive the minimum wage are from above median income households. Meaning they are a secondary earner or a teenager.

Source 11 More than half of all minimum wage workers in Wisconsin fall between 16 and 24 years old.

Source 11 Governor Tony Evers plans to set a task force to look into this issue further and study ways to move towards $15/hour.

Source 12 Costco has raised its minimum U.S. wage to $17 an hour, and Starbucks will raise its starting pay to $15 an hour.

Source 13 A total of 29 states plus the District of Columbia now have minimum wages above the federal minimum. In addition, 18 states automatically raise their minimum wage each year to account for inflation. In those states, at least, workers in those states don’t have to worry about falling farther behind as the dollar falls in value.