Making the case for a raise
The federal minimum wage
has not been increased since 1997.
A Republican Congress and corporate groups have opposed raising the minimum
wage, arguing that would hurt business and poor people. The last proposal to
raise it died in the Senate in March 2005.
The good news is 17 states and the District of Columbia have taken action
to set minimum wages higher than the federal level of $5.15 an hour. More states
will consider raising their minimum wages this year.
It’s good for the economy
“Putting $1,000 in the pockets of families with urgent needs is going
to provide far more stimulus to the economy than putting the same $310 million
in my pockets.”
— Warren Buffet, billionaire financier
“Following the most recent increase in the minimum wage in 1997 … the
low-wage market performed better … lower unemployment rates, increased
average hourly wages, increased family income, decreased poverty rates.”
Economic Policy Institute
It’s good for the nation
82% of Americans support increasing the minimum wage.
7.3 million workers in child care facilities, at checkout counters
and in nursing homes would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage, especially
760,000 single mothers with children younger than 18.
Is raising the minimum wage a cure-all?
No. It will help, but minimum wage workers need a “living wage,” which
is what a full-time worker would need to earn to raise a family above poverty.
The Health and Human Services Department’s 2006 guidelines set the poverty
level at an annual income of $20,000 for a family of four. With 2,080 hours paid
annually, that comes to an hourly wage of just over $9.60. That’s a conservative
figure, since most analysts agree the federal poverty line is unrealistically
low. A more realistic, but still bare-bones, family budget would require a higher
wage.
Living wage rates set by local ordinances nationwide range from a low of
$6.25 in Milwaukee to a high of $12 in Santa Cruz, Calif.
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