Study: Raising Minimum Wage To $10.10 Takes 4.6 Million Out Of Poverty

A study by economist Arindrajit Drube says  in the longer term, 6.8 million can be raised out of poverty with an increased minimum wage.

That wage level “would reduce the poverty rate among Americans between the ages of 18 and 64 by as much as 1.7 percentage points,” Jillian Berman explains in the Huffington Post. Poverty increased by 3.4 percent during the recession, a rate that has not improved since, but a $10.10 wage would erase more than half of that uptick. Dube’s findings come from an analysis of 23 years of data on minimum wage increases as well as a review of previous findings.

Others have found similar numbers for how many could be brought above the federal poverty line by a higher wage: ROC United, a group focused on better working conditions for restaurant workers, found that a $10.10 wage would lift nearly 6 million people out of poverty.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.