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News :: Civil & Human Rights : Economy : Elections & Legislation : Labor : Political-Economy : Regime : Right Wing |
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Federal Minimum Wage at Lowest Point in 50 Years |
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by Center for Economic and Policy Research
(No verified email address) |
20 Jun 2006
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Sure, Congressman Tim Johnson will tell you he vaoted against the pay raise that Congress recently voted in favor of -- but he'll take the money to the bank anyway.
The real question is -- What has Tim done to help struggling constituents who have not seen an increase in the minimum wage in almost a decade? The answer is -- nothing. Thanks, Tim, for doing nothing -- that will feed my kids and I'm sure I don't really need it anyway with the big bank accounts those of us on mimimum wage have, just like politicians. Yeah, sure. |
Raising minimum wage would provide workers with $1,520 more annually
WASHINGTON - June 19 - Raising the federal minimum wage to $7.25 per hour over the next 26 months would increase the annual earnings of the average full-time, full-year, minimum-wage worker by $1,520, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
This week Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) will offer an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill that would increase the minimum wage from the current $5.15 per hour to $7.25.
The federal minimum wage is at its lowest point in 50 years (see graph below). Congress has not raised the minimum wage in a decade. As of December 2006, this will be the longest time Congress has ever gone without raising the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage is only the first step in helping families to make ends meet. The substantial share of minimum wage workers are adults making significant contributions to the total family income. In the early 2000s, fewer than one-in-five minimum wage workers was under the age of 20 and half were between ages 25 and 54.
See minimum wage graph in HTML at: http://www.cepr.net/pressreleases/2006_06_19_graph.htm |
See also:
http://www.cepr.net/
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