A majority of American business owners support raising the minimum wage.

As we enter an election year, Americans’ perception of the health of their economy is more important than ever. Small business owners are often seen as bellwethers, given how sensitive they are to policy changes, and understanding their concerns about inflation and business costs will help them influence voters in November. could shed light on how the world reacts.

Many states and cities have recently increased or are in the process of raising their minimum wages, and some have set requirements higher than the federal minimum wage to match the local cost of living. New data from the CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey for Q1 2024 shows that a majority (61%) of small business owners support raising the minimum wage in their state, while half (50%) support raising the minimum wage in their state. have indicated that they believe it may be difficult to pay workers. It’s extremely important to their business.

The survey, conducted from January 22, 2024 to February 1, 2024 among more than 3,000 self-identified small business owners in the United States, found that small business owners expressed both support for and concerns about raising the minimum wage. This highlights an interesting contradiction:

Differences in generation, industry, and politics

In recent months, some business owners have been hoping that increased pay in the community will increase potential customer spending, increase tax revenue that can be used to improve the community, and increase employee satisfaction through meetings. has expressed support for raising the minimum wage. Request for living expenses. Yet another faction of business owners worries that higher wages will hurt profitability and reduce their ability to hire entry-level workers, especially for companies whose profits are already razor-thin.

The CNBC|SurveyMonkey survey found that the groups most likely to support raising the minimum wage are women, Black people, people under 45, Democrats, or business owners working in the arts/entertainment or nonprofit industries. Young small business owners are also more likely to think raising the minimum wage would help their business.

The groups least likely to support raising the minimum wage are men over 45, white, Republicans, and/or people who work in manufacturing or agriculture.

Small business owners whose companies have not had a vacancy filled in the past three months are divided on their support for increasing the minimum wage, with just over half (54%) supporting the increase and less than half (45%) opposing it. are doing. Two-thirds (68%) also expressed concerns about their ability to hire new employees as a result of the wage increase.

There is widespread concern about the potential impact on business.

Overall, small business owners are divided on whether raising the minimum wage will affect their ability to hire new employees. Half (50%) think the increase will make it harder to hire, but just under half (49%) don’t expect it to have any impact. Remarkably, twice as many small business owners who have had an unfilled job in the past three months think raising the minimum wage would hurt their business rather than help it (51% vs. 25%). %). Even supporters of raising the minimum wage are concerned about the impact on their bottom line, with women (45%), young people (58%) and black business owners (46%) the most likely groups to do so. Nevertheless, they have expressed concerns about worker affordability. to support such policies.

Despite general support for raising the minimum wage, small business owners appear concerned about how it will affect their businesses. Only one in five (19%) small business owners think a higher minimum wage would help their business, and nearly two-thirds (61%) support it. This is an amazing statistic when you think about it. In fact, 38% believe price increases will have a negative impact on their business.

These conflicting feelings among small business owners demonstrate the delicate nature of this debate. For more than a decade, the Fight for $15 movement has advocated for raising minimum wage laws across the country, leaving many communities struggling with the high cost of living. It will be interesting to see how Main Street sentiment continues to change as more states and cities move towards raising the minimum wage.