What is the minimum wage?
The minimum wage is the starting hourly wage an employer can pay an employee for work. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour (part of the Fair Labor Standards Act). Some states and cities have raised their minimum wage higher than that. In most instances, the higher of the prevailing minimum wage requirements is binding for employers.
October 22, 2021
Not Just Big Corporations: Local Govts Up the Ante on Minimum Wage
October 15, 2021
The Big Minimum Wage Lie Invoked in This Year’s Nobel Prize
Pro-hike interest groups have propped up one study over the decades to make their case for ever-higher increases to the minimum wage – and economists have continually debunked it. Yet…
October 8, 2021
Virginia Gov-Hopeful’s Aggressive Minimum Wage Plan Would Magnify State Job Losses
As the Virginia race for governor heats up, Democratic candidate and former Governor Terry McAuliffe is doubling down on his platform to speed up the path to hit a $15…
October 1, 2021
Bolstering Wages With Earned Income Tax Credits, Not Minimum Wage, Can Help Solve Hiring Crisis
After Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced his bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 earlier this year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected the legislation could cost up…
September 24, 2021
New Study Finds Steep Minimum Wage Hikes Hurt Younger, Less Educated Employees
A new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research adds new evidence to the economic literature that minimum wage hikes, especially large ones, have negative consequences for…