WASHINGTON, D.C.-U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) issued the following statement today following the release of a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report regarding the minimum wage and its impact on the economy. Harkin is Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the author, along with Congressman George Miller (D-CA), of legislation to raise the minimum wage to $10.10.
“Since the first minimum wage was enacted more than 75 years ago, opponents have argued that a wage floor would cause job loss. But this is a myth. Our own historical experience shows that nothing could be further from the truth," Harkin said. “Indeed, the newest economic research using the most sophisticated methodologies has demonstrated that modest increases in the minimum wage do not cause job loss.
“More than 600 economists, including seven Nobel Prize laureates, recently affirmed the growing consensus that low-wage workers benefit from modest increases in the minimum wage without negative consequences for the low-wage job market," Harkin added. “In fact, an analysis of the Fair Minimum Wage Act reveals that gradually raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would raise the wages of nearly 28 million low-wage workers, pumping $22 billion in the economy and-contrary to the CBO’s report- would create 85,000 jobs over three years due to increased consumer demand.
“Furthermore, the minimum wage is a critically important standard in our economy. A fair minimum wage sets a floor below which no worker is allowed to fall, ensuring a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work and preventing the exploitation of hardworking Americans desperate for income. And, as the CBO report affirms, an increase in the minimum wage will help to lift families out of poverty.
“Raising the minimum wage is not just the popular thing to do, or the right thing to do for millions of working Americans and their families-it’s also the right thing to do for our economy."
The Harkin-Miller bill to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 is in line with previous increases in the minimum wage that have not resulted in negative economic consequences. The last minimum wage increase, passed during President George W. Bush’s tenure, represented a 41 percent increase. The Harkin-Miller bill represents an increase of 39 percent minimum over the current federal minimum wage of $7.25.
The majority of minimum wage research overwhelmingly demonstrates no significant job loss:
Business groups and businesses, including small businesses, are increasingly supportive of the minimum wage because of its positive impact on businesses and the economy:
Big businesses that employ most low-wage workers have largely recovered from the recession and are performing even better than before.
Wages are among the least concerning issues for small businesses.
