A majority of voters support a minimum wage hike to at least $10 an hour - that's more unlikely now than ever before
Jack Plunkett/AP Images for Carl's Jr.
The poll found that 76% of registered voters support raising the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour. Twenty-nine percent of those polled support raising it to $15.
More than half (54%) of people who voted for President-elect Donald Trump support giving the lowest-paid workers in the nation a raise to at least $10 an hour.
The federal minimum wage currently stands at $7.25 an hour. That number hasn't budged since 2009. Millions of minimum wage workers are forced to rely on federal assistance programs to make ends meet. As the chart below shows, the minimum wage is not enough to keep workers out of poverty:
According to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, raising the federal minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020 would give more than one in four American workers a raise.
But its looking less likely that this will happen anytime soon. On Thursday Trump chose Andrew Puzder, CEO of the parent company of fast-food chains Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, to lead the Department of Labor.
Puzder opposes the pro-labor regulations that were ushered in under President Obama, including a rule that would have made millions of workers eligible for earning overtime pay. He wrote in the Wall Street Journal in 2014 that Obama's efforts to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would raise unemployment. Republicans, who control Congress, have rejected numerous attempts to raise the minimum wage at the federal level, stating that wage issues should be "handled at the state and local level."
Many states and local governments have already taken it upon themselves to raise wages. California and New York have plans in place to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next few years. In November, voters in Arizona, Maine, Colorado, and Washington approved ballot measures that will hike wages to at least $12 an hour by 2020.
But a handful of states don't have minimum wage laws of their own and therefore rely on the federal minimum wage to set a pay floor. A number of other states have minimum wages that are equal to the federal rate of $7.25 an hour.
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- A centenarian who starts her day with gentle exercise and loves walks shares 5 longevity tips, including staying single
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- "To sit and talk in the box...!" Kohli's message to critics as RCB wrecks GT in IPL Match 45
- 7 Nutritious and flavourful tiffin ideas to pack for school
- India's e-commerce market set to skyrocket as the country's digital economy surges to USD 1 Trillion by 2030
- Top 5 places to visit near Rishikesh
- Indian economy remains in bright spot: Ministry of Finance
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market