Topics / Economy and the state
Should the minimum wage be raised substantially?
Should governments raise the statutory minimum wage substantially above its current level? The debate turns on how to weigh higher pay for low earners against possible effects on jobs, hours, prices and small businesses, and on how to read an evidence base that is more extensive for moderate rises than for large ones.
Positions
- Yes: Anyone working full time should be able to live on their wage, and the evidence shows that minimum wage rises have cost far fewer jobs than critics predicted, so the floor should be raised substantially.
- Gradual, evidence-led increases: The minimum wage should keep rising, but at a pace set by careful, independent analysis of its effects on jobs and hours, with scope for regional or age-based variation where the evidence calls for it.
- No: Substantially higher wage floors risk costing jobs and hours for the least experienced workers and put heavy strain on small businesses, so the minimum wage should not be raised substantially and low earners should be supported in other ways.