Here’s the fundamental problem. Salaries haven’t grown with the times, hampering growth and social mobility for middle-class citizens. In 2007, just before the Great Recession, the average income for the middle 60 percent of American households was $76,443. If their salaries were adjusted to match inflation rates, the average annual income would have risen to $94,310, a notable 23% higher than salaries 15 years ago. The problem is that as inflation rates grew, salaries didn’t grow alongside them, hurting low-income and middle-class Americans alike.
Republican lawmakers persistently oppose this matter, asserting that minimum wage measures detrimentally impact businesses across the board. These hardline stances fundamentally misconstrue the realities at play. If anything, companies benefit when the federal minimum wage is lifted. Under a minimum wage increase, small businesses see mass savings and increased revenue through three key ways: reduced turnover, increased consumer spending, and increased worker productivity. Each one helps them grow.
This culminates in economic growth.
As said by Caius Willingham in a report published by the Center for American Progress, “Quite simply, employees that make a fair wage are able and willing to work harder. When workers experience less economic anxiety, they can better focus on their tasks. Moreover, better pay is related to better health outcomes, meaning workers take fewer sick days. It also means that employees are more invested in their work and are less likely to be late, miss a shift, or have other disciplinary problems. ”
The Small Business Administration finds that small businesses account for 46.4% of our workforce and up to 43.5% of our GDP. Consequently, the US Office for Advocacy reported in 2019 that small businesses create 67% of new jobs and account for 44% of all economic activity in the United States. The arguments of lawmakers on unemployment rates rising are contingent on small businesses closing, but the opposite happens: unemployment decreases through small business growth.
Our country has always sought to embrace our constituents with openness and fairness. We have a moral responsibility to keep that door open and make our legislators hear our calls. We’ve kept it on lock for 14 years. It’s high time we opened it up to what’s right.
