New fact sheet: raising the minimum wage would cause major boost for state’s economy

Voters across the political spectrum support the move, which will benefit businesses, workers, and the entire economy

RALEIGH (April 9, 2015) – Raising North Carolina’s minimum wage would provide an immediate boost to working families’ incomes, increase sales for local businesses, and strengthen the state’s overall economic performance without increasing unemployment, says a new fact sheet released this morning by the Workers’ Rights Project at the NC Justice Center.

Many North Carolina workers are locked in low-wage jobs that don’t pay enough to make ends meet, even though they’re working full-time. Over the long-term, the fact sheet says, state lawmakers need to implement a comprehensive strategy that creates pathways out of this low-wage economy. But right now, they can provide an immediate boost to working families by increasing the minimum wage above the current level of $7.25 an hour.

The economic benefits may explain why broad support exists across the political spectrum for raising North Carolina’s minimum wage. Recent polling shows that 58 percent of North Carolinians support a minimum wage hike, and ballot measure results from states such as Nebraska, South Dakota, Arkansas, and Alaska suggest that this sentiment exists nationally as well.

Raising the wage floor would help businesses and improve North Carolina’s economy, among other reasons, because it would reduce employee turnover and create more customers by putting more money in the pockets of those workers most likely to spend it. For example, boosting the wage floor to $10 an hour would benefit approximately 1 million workers in North Carolina. More than one half-million children in the state would experience increased security thanks to their parents’ higher wages—a critical support given that North Carolina has the eighth highest percentage of children living in poverty in the nation.

The fact sheet is available online at: https://www.ncjustice.org/publications/minimum-wage-and-the-economy/

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Allan Freyer, director of the NC Justice Center’s Workers’ Rights Project, allan@ncjustice.org, 919.856.2151; Jeff Shaw, director of communications, jeff@ncjustice.org, 503.551.3615 (cell).