Raising the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour by 2025 from its current $ 7.25 an hour level, as President Biden has called, would cut employment by 1.4 million and cut the number of Americans below the poverty line by 900,000, said an investigation. released Monday by the impartial Congressional Budget Office.
Mr. Biden and Democrats are pushing for legislation to more than double the current federal minimum wage, saying it would lift many low-wage workers out of poverty, but Republicans and some businesses and economists have warned that such an increase could cost jobs like The United States. recovers from layoffs due to coronavirus pandemic.
The CBO study said that if the $ 15 minimum wage proposed by Democrats in Congress were passed, 17 million U.S. workers, or about 10% of the workforce, would receive their wages because they would otherwise earn less than the federal minimum wage. . Another 10 million workers who earn just over $ 15 an hour could also potentially get pay increases, the study said.
The study assumes a June 1 effective date for the bill, raising the federal minimum wage to $ 9.50 per hour. Under the plan, wages would increase annually to $ 15 an hour by 2025. After that, the wage floor would be adjusted based on the change in the median wage of all employees.
The cumulative federal budget deficit from 2021 to 2031 would increase by $ 54 billion if a federal minimum of $ 15 were set, as higher prices for goods and services would contribute to an increase in federal spending, the report said. Government spending on nutritional supplements would fall, but that would be offset by higher spending on social security benefits, unemployment benefits and health care programs, the CBO said.