As the rising cost of basic expenses continues to fuel an affordability crisis, millions of workers will see an increase in pay this month with new minimum wages taking effect.
Nineteen states, as well as 49 cities and counties, are increasing their wage floors to at least $15 per hour for some or all employees after wage hike campaigns across the country in recent years. In total, 88 states, counties and cities will make the adjustment by the end of the year, according to a report by the National Employment Law Project, which supports workers’ rights.
No minimum wage is truly a living wage, but any increase in the wage floor is good for workers.
For the first time, more Americans will earn a minimum wage of $15 or more than will earn the federal minimum of $7.25, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The federal rate has remained unchanged since 2009, despite broad public support for an increase.
Supporters of increasing the minimum wage argue that it should actually be a “living wage” that ensures workers can cover their basic expenses. Critics have long argued that such increases hurt small businesses, kill jobs or cut worker hours and raise consumer prices.
The modest raises come as low-paid hourly workers struggle to cover bare necessities.
“No minimum wage is truly a living wage, but any increase in the wage floor is good for workers,” said Yannet Lathrop, a senior researcher and policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project. “It will mitigate the pain a little more.”
The increases, a majority of which took effect Jan. 1, will boost the earnings of about 8.3 million workers by a total of $5 billion, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
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Many of the raises were a result of grass roots campaigns waged at the state and local levels across the country, some of which grew out of the “Fight for $15” movement that began in 2012 with fast food worker strikes in New York. At the time, paying workers $15 per hour was considered a fringe idea, but the campaign, conducted against a backdrop of rising costs and stubborn income inequality, gained traction and changed labor rights demands.
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