Still waiting for a raise in the minimum wage
It's time for Congress to put hard-working Americans first, writes Chris Lu
[Read the full article on CNN.com]
On Sunday, the United States will mark an unfortunate milestone: It will be 3,614 days since the federal minimum wage was last raised in July 2009. This will be the longest period of time between federal minimum wage increases in the nation's history.
Despite a tight labor market, employee salaries aren't rising fast enough to make up for years of wage stagnation. That's why far too many Americans feel like they're treading water. Their paychecks are unchanged, while everyday expenses like housing, health care and gas have gone up.
One proven way to give a pay raise to millions of Americans is to increase the federal minimum wage. This has happened almost two dozen times over the past 80 years under both Democratic and Republican presidents.
Left unadjusted for 10 years, the current minimum wage of $7.25-an-hour has 35% less buying power than when the wage floor was $1.60 in 1969. Today, a person working full time on minimum wage can't even afford the basics. Despite a strong economy, 40% of Americans can't come up with $400 for an unexpected emergency. And there's no place in the United States where someone can afford a one-bedroom apartment on a $7.25 an hour wage and 40-hour workweek.
To correct this inequity, congressional Democrats have proposed raising the minimum wage gradually to $15 an hour by 2024.
One argument often used against raising the minimum wage is that it would only affect teenagers working part time at entry-level jobs. In fact, a $15 minimum would benefit nearly 24 million full-time workers, including over 11 million parents, about half of whom are single parents. The average age of impacted workers would be 35 years old, with a higher percentage of workers ages 55 and older receiving a raise than teenagers.