<Li> The minimum wage was below its 1960s purchasing power, despite a near doubling of productivity; </Li> <Li> The great preponderance of the evidence indicates there is no negative impact on employment from moderate increases; and </Li> <Li> A high level of public support, specifically Democrats and Republican women . </Li> <P> Former President Bill Clinton advocated raising the minimum wage in 2014: "I think we ought to raise the minimum wage because it doesn't just raise wages for the three or four million people who are directly affected by it, it bumps the wage structure everywhere...The estimates are that 35 million Americans would get a pay raise if the federal minimum wage was raised...If you (raise the minimum wage) in a phased way, it always creates jobs . Why? Because people who make the minimum wage or near it are struggling to get by, they spend every penny they make, they turn it over in the economy, they create jobs, they create opportunity, and they take better care of their children . It's just the right thing to do, but it's also very good economics ." </P>

When does minimum wage go up in october 2017