Opposition to increasing the minimum wage argue there would be a significant loss of jobs, prices would increase, youthful entry level workers would be overpaid and wait staff would lose tip income. In each case, facts dispute that opposition.
(Excerpts -http://inequality.org/income-inequality/)
The 1990s saw the annual incomes of the ultra-rich explode in size. Between 1992 and 2002, the 400 highest incomes reported to the Internal Revenue Service more than doubled, even after the collapse of the dot.com bubble in 2000. In the early 21st century, the economic boom driven by the real estate bubble would more than triple top 400 average incomes before the 2008 economic collapse.
Income disparities have become so pronounced that America’s top 10 percent now average nearly nine times as much income as the bottom 90 percent. Americans in the top 1 percent tower stunningly higher.
Income inequality has exacerbated poverty. Increasing the minimum wage would reduce the amount of subsistence cost for municipalities.
(Excerpts -http://inequality.org/income-inequality/)
According to the Department of Labor, minimum wage increases have little to no negative effect on employment as shown in independent studies from economists across the country. Academic research also has shown that higher wages sharply reduce employee turnover which can reduce employment and training costs.
A Purdue University study released in July 2015 suggests that paying fast-food restaurant employees $15 an hour could lead to higher prices. Prices at those businesses could increase by an estimated 4.3 percent, according to the report. A McDonalds meal costing $6.50 would cost $6.79 an increase of 29 cents.
Under current federal law, employers of workers who customarily receive tips are only required to pay their tipped staff a base wage of $2.13 per hour. The median wage for tipped workers in 2013, including earnings from tips, was $10.22 per hour—38 percent less than the overall U.S. median wage for that year.
What is not being said about a minimum wage increase Is the economic impact an increase will have. Common sense tells us that people just scraping by now, will spend most if not all of a wage increase. In Maine that will be increased spending by twenty six percent of the states total wage earners. That spending will increase sales tax collections for the state, increase sales of durable goods like automobiles and the need for additional sales personnel, other services people. There will be a reduction in persons needing subsistence from municipalities as pay rises above the poverty level. The benefits of a minimum wage increase far exceeds the negative impact of short term price increases and a minimum of short term job losses. A minimum wage increase could bring a modicum of prosperity to thousands of Maine workers.