Should the Minimum Wage Be Raised to $10 an Hour? — Survey of the Day
Since 2009, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25. About 2.2 percent of the US workforce is paid at this minimal level.
Local governments are able to set their own minimum wages, and in November residents of San Jose, CA will vote on an initiative that would raise the minimum wage in that city to $10 an hour.
According to a survey done by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, 54 percent of its readers support the minimum wage hike whereas 46 percent oppose it.
Advocates for raising the minimum wage nationally argue that when adjusting for inflation a $10 minimum wage would match the nation’s minimum wage in 1969. Opponents of a minimum wage hike would suggest that raising the minimum wage during a time the economy is sluggish would lead to even more unemployment.