LawnStarter Survey: 8 in 10 Lawn Care Providers Oppose $15-an-Hour Minimum Wage
Austin, Texas (PRWEB) June 06, 2016 -- Eight of every 10 lawn care providers in the U.S. are dead-set against hiking the minimum wage to $15 an hour, a new survey by LawnStarter shows. The federal minimum wage stands at $7.25 an hour.
LawnStarter’s online SurveyMonkey survey of nearly 320 lawn care providers found that 79 percent oppose a $15-an-hour minimum wage, with only 21 percent backing it.
Lawmakers in California and New York recently approved phasing in a statewide minimum wage of $15 an hour. At the federal level, legislation is pending that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Three-fourths (76 percent) of the lawn care providers who responded to the LawnStarter survey said they would not support a presidential candidate who backed a $15-an-hour minimum wage, with nearly one-fourth (24 percent) saying they would.
Fifty-eight percent of the lawn care providers surveyed said a $15-an-hour minimum wage would have a “big” effect on their businesses, compared with:
24 percent who said it would have a “medium” effect.
10 percent who said it would have a “minimal” effect.
8 percent who said it would have no effect.
When asked to specify what the most significant effect of a $15-an-hour minimum wage would be on their livelihoods:
79 percent said they would need to raise their prices.
36 percent said they would have to cut back on staffing.
21 percent said they would need to reduce expenses unrelated to staffing.
12 percent said they would be forced to shut down their business.
Nine percent of the respondents cited other effects, while 6 percent mentioned no effects at all. In this category of the survey, a lawn care provider could select more than one answer.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly wage for front-line landscapers and groundskeepers is $13.20.
LawnStarter conducted the online survey April 8-17, 2016. More than 2,000 lawn care providers from LawnStarter’s proprietary database were invited to participate.
LawnStarter, based in Austin, Texas, makes lawn care carefree by enabling people to find, schedule, pay for and manage lawn care services through an easy-to-use online platform. Check out LawnStarter’s Lawn Care Guide at https://www.lawnstarter.com/lawn-care#lawn-care-guide.
John Egan, LawnStarter, +1 (512) 799-1022, [email protected]
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