The following is a research project conducted to determine how those businesses most affected by an increase to the national minimum wage feel about President Obama’s proposal from a few months ago.
After the Executive Summary and Report, please find the Questionnaire used as well as some visuals in Data Findings.
Executive Summary
The topic of whether the minimum wage should be increased to $10.10, as proposed by President Barack Obama, has become an intense issue. This study has been conducted to bring to light the current sentiment by those most affected by a change in the minimum so that policy makers have a better understanding and grasp of what needs to be done.
The research conducted was limited to an area in Monmouth County, NJ that includes a range of socio-economic groups from upper lower class to high middle class. The target of the study was divided into two main demographic groups; Professional Managers and Owner Managers. These two groups represent Large Companies and Small Businesses, respectively. Further categorization includes gender and number of employees. Once the data was collected, it was then analyzed to yield results that could be used to complete the objective of accurately portraying how different demographics feel they will be impacted by increasing the minimum wage.
The results have limitations based mostly on the small sample size and specific area that the study was conducted in, as well as the types of industries represented. The implications of the information are important, nonetheless. Large Companies tended to be more against increasing the minimum wage than did Small Businesses. This seems to be because of the large labor force employed by retail corporations that have multiple locations across the state or country. Large Corporations also have more financial burden relative to Small Businesses and would feel the strain of increased labor cost more so than smaller businesses.
After considering the study results and factoring in the limitations, it seems important that policy makers and interested parties conduct similar research on a much larger scale in order to better represent the scope of the nation. With concern to this study, however, recommendations to policy makers would be to increase the minimum wage incrementally on a national scale, however to encourage states to take more of a lead based on each state’s respective economies. A change in the tax code is also necessary to allow businesses, large and small, to better face the current economic challenges. Increasing the minimum wage is only one small step to revitalizing the nation’s economy.
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