The Benefits of Gradually Phasing in a $15 Minimum Wage in Maryland Would Be Far-Reaching & Would Help Reverse Decades of Pay Inequality

  • Due to flat or falling wages, today, approximately 573,000 workers in Maryland earn less than $15 an hour and would benefit from legislation that would increase the state’s wage floor to that amount, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). These workers comprise nearly one-fourth of all workers in Maryland—22 percent of its workforce.[1]
  • The average worker would see a raise of $4,600 a year by 2023, when the higher wage floor is fully phased-in. That’s a life-changing difference for low-wage workers, such as home health aides, security guards, and cashiers, who are entitled to just $21,000 a year working full-time under the state’s current minimum wage.[2]

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Endnotes

[1].       National Employment Law Project, The Case for a $15 Minimum Wage in Maryland, January 2018, https://www.nelp.org/wp-content/uploads/Case-for-15-in-Maryland-January-2018.pdf.

[2].      Ibid.

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