Over two-thirds of Americans - including majorities of Democrats and Republicans - say that the minimum wage should be higher
During his State of the Union Address in March, President Obama called for raising the Federal minimum wage from $7.25/hr to $9.00/hr. A new YouGov poll reveals widespread support for such a move, with over two-thirds of Americans saying the minimum wage should be higher than it is now.
When asked what they think the federal minimum wage should be, 69% selected at least $8/hr and 57% said it should be at least $9/hr, the President's prefered value.
Only 9% selected the values closest to where it currently stands, $7 or $7.50/hr. ($7.25/hr was not available as an option).
From among the different values, the two which were selected most were $10/hr (by 18%) and $9/hr (by 10%).
A small but significant number of Americans (13%) also said that there should be no federal minimum wage at all.
There was some division some along partisan lines in the results. Republicans were more likely to favor lower values for the minimum wage or no minimum wage at all, but a majority of Republicans still favored a higher minimum wage than the current standard.
While the federal minimum wage is the national standard, many states and municipalities have a higher minimum wage. Our results, in fact, show that many Americans want a minimum wage on par with some of the highest local standards.
Currently Washington state has the highest state minimum wage at $9.19/hr while San Francisco has the highest municipal minimum wage at $10.55/hr.
Complete results are available here.
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