Over 60% of respondents in a new Insider poll would definitely or probably support a $15 minimum wage.
That increase —which would give 32 million Americans a raise — is currently a hot topic in Washington. Democrats, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), are pushing for the increase to be included in reconciliation package for President Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus relief plan.
While Biden has reiterated his support for the increase, he's also reportedly signaled that he's not optimistic it'll make it into reconciliation — and two Democratic senators seem to agree.
Outside of Washington, though, the $15 minimum wage seems to have strong support, and it has for years. A 2019 Insider poll found that 63% of respondents supported or strongly supported an increase. Since then, the economy and low-wage employment have been ravaged by the pandemic.
In Insider's most recent poll, participants were asked: Do you support increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour?
- Of the 1,130 respondents, 44% said they would definitely support the increase, while 21% said they probably would.
- Conversely, 15% of respondents said they probably wouldn't support it, 17% said they definitely wouldn't, and 4% didn't know.
Party affiliations seemed to play a role in responses:
- 58% of respondents who said they would probably vote in their state's Democratic primaries or caucuses would "definitely" support an increase to $15 an hour.
- But 28% of likely Republican voters would "definitely" support the increase.
- Conversely, 9% of likely Democratic voters "definitely would not support" the raise, while 32% of likely Republican voters "definitely would not support it."
There was also some divide along generational lines:
- 52% of respondents between 30 and 44 "definitely would support" the increase, the highest percentage among age groups.
- Meanwhile, 25% of respondents over the age of 60 "definitely would not support" the raise.
The current Democratic plans would gradually increase the federal minimum to $15 by 2025. Respondents to Insider's poll were asked: If the federal minimum wage was increased to $15 per hour, do you have a preference about how that would be implemented?
- 39% said that, if the increase were to happen, the "$15 minimum wage should be implemented immediately."
- But 50% would "prefer a phased rollout, gradually raising the minimum wage annually to $15 in 2025."
When it comes to raising the minimum wage, it seems that slow and steady wins the race.
SurveyMonkey Audience polls from a national sample balanced by census data of age and gender. Respondents are incentivized to complete surveys through charitable contributions. Generally speaking, digital polling tends to skew toward people with access to the internet. SurveyMonkey Audience doesn't try to weight its sample based on race or income. Polling data collected 1,154 respondents February 22, 2021 with a 3 percentage point margin of error.
