It’s not easy to live a life below the poverty line. Even if you live in the richest country in the world, this a rather challenging situation indeed. The minimum wage raise to $15 in N.J. could be regarded as an addition to the current state requirement of increasing the minimum for annual inflation.
There’s a consistent higher unemployment rate in some southern New Jersey counties as compared to the other parts of the state. The cost of living is relatively high in N.J., and the minimum wage is staying behind it.
The costs associated with healthcare and childcare grew at least 75% from 1992 to 2011, while the minimum wage went up only 40%. Some believe the min. wage increase wouldn’t allow real wages to go down further and would enable working poor families to live above the poverty line.
New Jersey would be following the lead of California, Massachusetts, New York, and some other major cities, including Chicago, Seattle, and Washington DC. They’ve already passed legislation to incrementally raise their min. wage to $15 in the years to come.
Governor Phil Murphy, Representative Donald Norcross, D-1st Dist., and a number of activists have called for a $15-an-hour minimum wage. Currently, the minimum wage in N.J. makes up $8.60 an hour. The federal minimum accounts for $7.25.
Such change and other regulations could force employers to make a difficult choice to remain competitive in today’s challenging environment.
Opinions on N.J.’s Min. Wage Raise: What About a Merchant Cash Advance?
According to a volunteer and part-owner of a business, instead of raising the minimum wage, the government should focus on increasing the earning potential of low-wage workers. Concentrating on the minimum that a worker can earn could lead to regress. He thinks it’s important to focus on increasing workers’ maximum wage.
What about you? Do you have enough access to working capital so to grow your business without challenges? If not, you can turn to a reliable and experienced business funding provider like First American Merchant to get a merchant cash advance. FirstAmericanMerchant.com is a reputable alternative online lender that specializes in the high risk field and boasts an A+ rating with the BBB. FAM is dedicated to offering the cheapest rates and unique financing solutions to merchants of any type.
Based on the estimates by New Jersey Policy Perspective, the min. wage increase would be beneficial to 1.2 million New Jersey employees (among them 600.000 are women) by 2023. Increasing the min. wages would help put an end to the gender wage gap.
Critics note that higher wages will cost businesses a lot, thus making them hire fewer employees. On the other hand, many studies on the matter showed that the most estimates of employment losses weren’t statistically significant and were near zero in magnitude.