The November elections were a resounding success for advocates of increasing the minimum wage nationwide, with six states passing ballot measures for a wage hike and Democrats taking control of Congress. Citizens in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio voted to raise their states' wages above the federal minimum of $5.15 per hour set in 1997, with annual increases tied to inflation.

Established by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the federal minimum wage has not been raised in nearly a decade, the longest period without an increase since its inception.

Adjusted for inflation, the rate is at its lowest since 1955, and its purchasing power has decreased 20% in the last 10 years, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). In fact, an employee working 40 hours per week year-round would earn just $10,712 at the current rate; the federal poverty threshold for a family of four is $19,157.

Still, only 28 states plus the District of Columbia will have minimum wages over the federal level in 2007.

With voter opinion surging in favor of the changes, Congressional Democrats want to raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 per hour over the next two years. Congressman-elect Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) told the Minnesota Daily in November that a wage increase should not even be a debate because it goes to the core of our values.

"In America, there is a sort of social contract that says if you work hard and play by the rules, you can get ahead," Ellison said. "Raising the minimum wage makes sense."

According to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C., a raise to $7.25 would have a tremendous impact on "disadvantaged" workers, the segment of the population who needs it the most. The institute's research shows that the benefits of the increase help the poorest segment of the working class the most. While the households in the bottom one-fifth of wage earnings only make up 5% of national income, 38% of the minimum wage increase benefits would go to these workers.

Supporters of the increase argue that, while it is a step in the right direction, much more needs to be done to bolster the low-income American worker. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, organizes campaigns nationwide lobbying for higher minimum and living wages.

"On November 7th, we did the job that Congress refused to do by taking a pay raise to the people," ACORN President Maude Hurd said. "We want elected officials at all levels to pay attention to the mandate that voters laid down: hard working families deserve a better deal-that should be the first order of business."

Small business owners, however, are not happy with the changes. According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), raising the minimum wage will result in job losses as small businesses, responsible for two-thirds of the new jobs created nationwide, struggle to absorb the increased labor costs.

Randel K. Johnson, U.S. Chamber of Commerce vice president for labor, immigration and employee benefits agrees. "Small businesses cannot simply wave a magic wand to create more revenue when lawmakers pass these types of bills," Johnson said. "It is these businesses, the backbone of our economy, which will be hurt the most by this proposal."

According to David Neumark, senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, an increased minimum wage would act as a tax of sorts on the use of unskilled workers, so employers who do not want to pay unskilled workers more than current wages would simply replace them with more qualified individuals.

"Policies that encourage employers to hire low-skilled workers, that encourage work and most importantly that raise skill levels, need to be considered as essential components of the policy mix," he said.

While being forced to pay a higher wage may cause employers to be more selective in their hiring, other leading scholars dispute arguments that increased wages will lead to a decrease in jobs.

In October, 650 leading economists, including five Nobel Prize winners, released a statement through the Economic Policy Institute in support of the proposed federal increase. "[T]he minimum wage helps to equalize the imbalance in bargaining power that low-wage workers face in the labor market …," they wrote. "While controversy about the precise employment effects of the minimum wage continues, research has shown that most of the beneficiaries are adults, most are female, and the vast majority are members of low-income families."

Though there is research to support both sides of the minimum wage debate, if November's election is any indication, wages will likely continue to rise nationwide as the movement gains public support.