Here Are the Shocking Effects of a $15 Minimum Wage

Date: August 26, 2016 Last Edit: August 29, 2016

A Heritage Foundation report shows just how bad the minimum wage could be for business.

The effects of an increased minimum wage are worse than previously thought.

A new study from The Heritage Foundation finds that a $15 federal minimum wage would negatively affect 49 out of 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In 2016 alone, 14 states began the year with a minimum wage increase.

Be on the front lines to fight minimum wage hikes

The minimum wage is also a hot-button issue on the campaign trail, and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has endorsed a $12 federal minimum wage, and the Democratic Party’s official platform calls for a $15 minimum wage on the federal level. But these increases would have harmful effects on small businesses nearly everywhere, the study found. Donald Trump, meanwhile, has voiced his support for a $10 minimum wage, but has also said individual states should set their own wages.

Every state in the Union—except New York—would suffer job losses in the thousands from a $15 minimum wage, which approved its own $15 minimum wage bill in April, according to the study.

Texas is projected to lose 941,000 jobs under a $15 minimum wage, and Florida would be expected to shed 594,000 jobs, the report found.

“These estimates imply that currently legislated minimum-wage increases in states like California, New York, and Oregon will cost approximately 2 million jobs by 2021, according to the report. “A federally mandated $15-per-hour starting wage would cost an additional 7 million jobs.”

The increases would disproportionately affect states with a lower cost of living. This is because more workers in these states are paid minimum wage, according to the report’s analysis.

“Efforts to create jobs and reduce poverty should not center on forcing employers to pay higher starting wages,” the report concluded.

*Note: This news coverage does not equate to an endorsement of any candidate by NFIB.

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