Small Business Owners Face Pressures Of Minimum Wage Bumps In Big Cities

NPR reports, Minimum wages are on their way to $15 an hour in New York and California. Workers look forward to the bump. But some small businesses are bracing for a hit to their bottom line.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It’s time now for our series Hanging On, where we take a look at the economic pressures of American life. This week, we’re looking at the minimum wage because it’s on its way up to $15 an hour in California and New York, which is an unprecedented wage bump at the state level. And it’s going to have an effect both on workers and employers. NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang has more.

HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE: Shopping these days is a little easier on Edica Reese’s wallet. She works as a cashier at a McDonald’s in New York City, where the minimum wage is on the rise.

EDICA REESE: It’s helping. I guess I can get more essentials. Before, I couldn’t get what I needed.

WANG: Sometimes she would have to ask neighbors for toilet paper when she ran out. But now she and other fast-food workers in the city are making at least 10.50 an hour. That’s set to go up to $12 an hour at the end of the year.

(SOUNDBITE OF CASH REGISTER BEEPING)

WANG: And that means she can afford to keep up her own stock of toiletries.

Are you finished shopping?

REESE: Yes, I am.

WANG: But it’s going to be a while before the minimum wage finally hits the planned $15 an hour. That’s because the wage hikes in New York state and California are being phased in with small bumps every year. Reese says 15 an hour would make a big difference for her and her 3-year-old daughter.

To read the complete report follow the link below:

NPR – Small Business Owners Face Pressures Of Minimum Wage Bumps In Big Cities