Small-business owners are much more skeptical of the minimum wage than the public at large

Raising the minimum wage is a popular cause in America, with around 70 percent of the public saying a move to about $10 an hour would be right. A higher wage floor, not surprisingly, is somewhat less popular with American small-business owners, according to a recent survey conducted by Vistage in cooperation with the Wall Street Journal.

Overall, small-business owners are split about 50-50 on the subject of a higher federal minimum, with a very slight majority in the poll saying they are opposed:

However, if you restrict your attention to the owners of the smallest businesses, with less than $4 million in revenue, you see majority support for a wage hike:

Business owners at least claim this is not a matter of direct self-interest, with the vast majority of small-business owners reporting that they do not employ any minimum-wage workers:

Research indicates that wealthy people in general are much more skeptical of minimum wage increases than the population at large, so small-business owners' views may reflect general affluence rather than any specific concern about their workforce.

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