In Boon to 'Fight for $15,' Study Confirms Living Fast Food Wage Totally Doable

A growing movement of fast food workers has launched strikes, protests, and public pressure campaigns across the United States and world demanding an end to starvation wages and a minimum of $15 an hour, under the slogan “We are worth more!”

Now, a just-released paper from economic researchers is affirming what those employees have long argued: such pay is doable, affordable, and would not require mass firings, despite the claims of industry heavyweights, from McDonald’s to Wendy’s.

Entitled , the paper was written by Robert Pollin, distinguished professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, and Jeannette Wicks-Lim, a PERI research assistant professor.

Culling data from previous studies and U.S. Economic Census surveys, the researchers chart out the potential impact of a minimum wage increase, from $7.25 to $15 an hour over the course of four years, on the industry.

Their conclusion? The fast food industry “could absorb the increase in its overall wage bill without resorting to cuts in their employment levels at any point over this four-year adjustment period.”

According to the researchers, this could be accomplished through “a combination of turnover reductions; trend increases in sales growth; and modest annual price increases over the four-year period.”