Senator Bernie Sanders has proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour, despite failing to receive support from members of his own party in 2021 for a nationwide $15 minimum wage bill. A large majority of economic research and American labor economists agree this proposal would have significant negative consequences for minimum wage employment.

Using methodology developed by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, a $17 federal minimum wage is estimated to have the following negative impacts on employment:

• The nation can expect to lose over 1.2 million jobs.
• Sixty-two percent of job losses will be among women, and 63% percent will be lost among 16-24 year olds.
• The restaurant and bar industry will account for 40% of total job losses, and a quarter of these will be jobs held by tipped workers.
• Adding federal tip credit elimination to a $17 minimum wage, raising the current tipped minimum wage by 700%, would kill an additional 447,000 jobs, bringing total job loss to 1.65 million jobs.