Will employers go out of business if they must pay a higher minimum wage?
No. While opponents frequently make this claim, research and experience demonstrate otherwise. In fact, many of the loudest minimum wage opponents are the country’s largest and most profitable companies.
A 2012 NELP report found that two-thirds of all low-wage workers are employed by large companies rather than small businesses, and that the vast majority of the largest low-wage employers in the country are earning strong profits and can afford higher wages.
It’s also important to remember that because the minimum wage has lost so much value over the last several decades, employers today are actually being allowed to pay less—in real dollars—than they were paying in the late 1960s.
Many employers and small businesses, in fact, support minimum wage increases. For more, visit Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, Small Business Majority, and Main Street Alliance.