Federal minimum wage was created in 1938. Since 1938, the minimum-wage has increased from $.25 to $7.25.  Congress holds the power to set the federal minimum wage. For the longest time in history, (in over 10 years)  Congress has not raised the wage. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour. The Congressional budget office is evaluating the impact of increasing the federal minimum wage further. A new report considers what the impact in our country would be if the federal minimum wage was raised to $15 an hour (by the year 2025).

Raising the minimum wage is an issue that spars heated debate. A reported it 27 million people would benefit from the increase in pay. Getting paid more as inflation increases sounds like a good idea. However, there are arguments for and against raising minimum-wage to $15.00.  Some critics opposed to raging raising the minimum wage say employees would actually lose their jobs because employers would not be able to afford paying that wage increase. Currently it is uncertain that the increase in the wage would have an effect on employment.

The current minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour. A survey reveals that 55% of registered voters would be in favor of raising minimum-wage to $15. While Inflation in our nation is holding steady, the purchasing power of the $7.25 minimum wage has declined over the past 10 years. With a purchasing power decrease at the current minimum wage of $7.25, full-time minimum wage workers experience a $3000 loss and annual earnings.

Here is another way to look at this: in 1968, buying power reached its peak, and minimum-wage lost 31% in purchasing power. When all this is taken into consideration, in effect, minimum-wage workers “earn” approximately $6800 less than they would have earned in 1968 (in 1968 the minimum wage was $1.60). The impact on the federal budget and raising the wage even to 10 or $12 is not clear. Yes, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would boost pay for almost 17,000,000 workers. On the other hand, there are legitimate concerns that possibly 1.3 million workers will lose their jobs as a result of increase in minimum wage.