National News
Small Business Owners: Raising wages Makes Sense
“First, slightly more than 47 percent of
people earning the minimum wage or less
are Millennials between the ages of 20 and
34,” said the report. “More than 39 percent
of people earning the minimum wage are
people of color.”
The report also noted that today the mini-
mum wage at $7.25 is worth less now than
it was 50 years ago when more than
250,000 Americans marched on Washing-
ton for jobs and freedom in 1963.
“Unless there are significant policy
changes, the rising population of young
WASHINGTON (NNPA) – More than 60
percent of small business owners with
employees favor increasing the federal min-
imum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 in three
stages, according to a new survey.
The poll, sponsored by the American Sus-
tainable Business Council, an advocacy
group that represents more than 200,000
businesses and Business for a Fair Mini-
mum Wage, described on the group’s
website as “a national network of business
owners and executives who believe a fair
minimum wage makes good business
sense.”
The results from the poll conducted in
June, showed that nearly 60 percent of
small business owners say that raising the
minimum wage would increase consumer
purchasing power.
Blacks disproportionately work in low-
wage jobs, accounting for 11 percent of the
total labor force, but more than 14 percent
of low-wage workers. Roughly 57 percent
of low-wage workers are White.
More than half of those surveyed also
agreed that “that with a higher minimum
wage, businesses would benefit from lower
employee turnover and increased produc-
tivity and customer satisfaction.”
Six percent of the business owners in the
survey were Black and roughly 80 percent
were White. Ninety-nine percent of all
African American businesses don’t have
eny employees.
Sherry Stewart Deutschmann, founder
and CEO of LetterLogic in Nashville,
Tenn., said that because her employees well
above the minimum wage, they have more
money to spend with other businesses.
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
By Freddie Allen
NNPA Washington Correspondent
Supporters of an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour encircle
Seattle City Hall on wednesday April 23, the day before Mayor Murray’s
Advisory group made up of business leaders, labor and non-profits was
scheduled to release a recommendation. Seattle became the first city in the
nation to pass a minimum wage ordinance.
contrast, less than 60 percent of small busi-
ness owners in the South said they were in
favor of an increase.
For proponents of a higher federal mini-
mum wage, the poll results undercut the
argument that raising the minimum wage
would hurt small businesses.
Researchers have also dispelled that myth
that many workers who get paid at or near
Nearly 60 percent of small business owners say
that raising the minimum wage would increase
consumer purchasing power
“With our starting wage of $12 my
employees have more money to spend at
other businesses. We don’t count on other
businesses and taxpayers to subsidize our
profits by underwriting food stamps and
other safety net assistance for our employ-
ees,” said Deutschmann. “Why should I be
subsidizing the profits of companies that
pay wages their employees can’t live on? A
minimum wage raise is overdue.”
The strongest support for raising the min-
imum wage came from respondents in the
Northeast, where 67 percent of small busi-
ness owners favored a higher wage. By
the federal minimum wage are teenagers
living at home and supported by their par-
ents.
Low-wage workers are more educated
than they were four decades ago (about 30
percent have some college experience) and
older (less than 15 percent are teenagers).
Earlier this year, the AFL-CIO reported
that, “More than 2.2 million single moms
would benefit from raising the minimum
wage. One out of four of the workers who
would benefit—and 31% of the women
workers who would benefit—are parents
with children.”
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A recent report by the Center for Ameri-
can Progress, a progressive, Washington,
D.C.-based think tank, found that the stag-
nated federal minimum wage presents
barriers to economic mobility for two key
demographics.
Researchers have also
dispelled that myth
that many workers
who get paid at or
near the federal
minimum wage are
teenagers living at
home and supported
by their parents
people of color will mature in a society that
is not structured for their success,” said the
report. “It is critically important that we
address these issues now – before the
inequality that disproportionately affects
communities of color compromises our
nation’s economic future.”
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July 23, 2014 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 9