įurther, while the estimates of how much the minimum wage should be increased vary, many economists agree that if the wage had kept pace with rising productivity and incomes, it would be higher than the current $7.25 an hour.
wage was 75 cents - the equivalent of $7.19 in June 2022 dollars.” Raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation would ensure that low-wage workers could adopt a standard of living commensurate with the current economy. The current value of the minimum wage in real dollars is at its lowest level since February 1956, when the lowest U.S. Īs journalist Megan Cerullo summarizes, “The federal minimum wage of $7.25 buys less today than it has at any point over the past 66 years….
#MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE PRO#
Pro 2 Raising the minimum wage to match inflation and productivity would benefit the economy by increasing consumer activity and spurring job growth while lowering the federal deficit.īecause the federal minimum wage is not indexed for inflation, its purchasing power (the number of goods that can be bought with a unit of currency) has dropped considerably, hitting the lowest mark since 1956. The White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) found that an increase to just $10.10 an hour would raise wages for 28 million Americans–about nine million of those due to the ripple effect. The Brookings Institution found that increasing the minimum wage would result in higher wages for the 3.7 million people earning minimum wage and up to 35 million workers who make up to 150% of the federal minimum wage. Increasing the minimum wage would not only bring relief to workers struggling to make ends meet, it would also raise the incomes of people who make slightly more than minimum wage.
Minimum wage workers are then also subjected to irregular schedules that can make the rest of life, such as picking up kids from school, difficult or impossible. Workers who have to pinch pennies do not have the money, time, or other resources to invest in more education or job training for themselves and their families, meaning they remain stuck in low-paying jobs with few to no benefits such as sick days, health insurance, or retirement plans. Thus, the unaffordability of basic needs drives income, gender, and racial inequality. The current federal minimum wage prevents these individuals and families from meeting basic needs like shelter and food, as well as creating significant obstacles to healthcare, finances for an emergency, and other expenses such as car upkeep. Most are the primary wage earners for their families, averaging about 52% of their family’s income, and most are women and people of color. Īpproximately 91% of workers who would benefit from a raised minimum wage are over 20 years old, with 68% over the age of 25. Overall, families would need to earn $11 more an hour to cover basic costs, with Black and Hispanic families needing $12 more an hour. 59% of Hispanic families, 52% of Black families, 25% of white families, and 23% of Asian families that work full-time year-round cannot cover basic needs. A full-time worker needs to earn an hourly wage of $21.25 on average in order to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home in the U.S.” įurther, 35% of families with full-time year-round employment do not earn enough to pay for essentials including food and childcare. This… is $18.57 higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25…. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, “In 2022, a full-time worker needs to earn an hourly wage of $25.82 on average to afford a modest, two-bedroom rental home in the U.S. The current minimum wage is not high enough to allow people to afford housing. Pro 1 Raising the federal minimum wage would not only allow minimum wage workers to afford basic living expenses, but would also reduce income, gender, and racial inequalities.
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