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Minimum wage gets a mini increase in some states

Samantha Fields Jul 7, 2023
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Wage increases, even small ones, can be very impactful for low wage workers dealing with inflation. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Minimum wage gets a mini increase in some states

Samantha Fields Jul 7, 2023
Heard on:
Wage increases, even small ones, can be very impactful for low wage workers dealing with inflation. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Nineteen states, cities and counties are raising the minimum wage this summer, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute.

In Connecticut, it just went up by a dollar to $15 an hour. And in Nevada, it went up by 75 cents to $11.25 an hour.

The federal minimum wage has been the same since 2009: $7.25 an hour.

“Many states, feeling that is too low, have passed legislation to have a higher minimum wage,” said Pamela Loprest, at the Urban Institute. She said many cities have, too. And a number have also instituted cost-of-living adjustments.

“Much as Social Security has a cost-of-living adjustment because you are having to pay more as inflation goes up,” Loprest said.

About 765,000 people will get a raise this summer because of minimum wage increases. Even though they’re small, “Those wage increases are really valuable for low-wage workers who are dealing with the impacts of inflation,” said Sebastian Martinez Hickey at EPI.

Four states and D.C. now have a minimum wage of at least $15 an hour. So do a growing number of cities.

“There are still more than 21 million workers who are paid less than $15 an hour in the U.S.,” Hickey said.

And, he said, even $15 an hour isn’t enough to afford housing and basic expenses almost anywhere in the country.

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