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If the federal government raised the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour, how much would this raise the average income of families below the poverty line?

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According to data and projections from the Congressional Budget Office, Census Bureau, and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour would increase the average income of families below the poverty line by about 1%. This figure is negligible because: (1) less than 27% of adults in poverty work at least part-time for at least half of the year; (2) doubling the minimum wage would destroy about 1.4 million jobs with a disparate impact on young, less-educated people; (3) doubling the minimum wage would cause a slight decline in the overall economy, increased inflation, and higher taxes; and (4) the average income of families in poverty is several times greater than commonly reported because the official statistics exclude a vast array of goods and services that poor people receive from governments and charities.

DocumentationMinimum Wage Effects




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