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For context, the proposal to raise the min wage to $15 in 2025 is equivalent to increasing it by ~$0.48 a year since 2009, the last time it saw an increase.
If we just increased it to $15 right now? ~$0.65 a year. This is what is supposed to be massively unaffordable to businesses in the richest country in the world.
And even if the min wage was $15/hr *this year,* there are only five states in the country where it would rent an affordable two-bedroom: WV, KY, AL, MS and AR.
The wage needed to affordably rent a one-bedroom in MA as of 2020? $27.41/hr. Meanwhile, our Dem supermajority legislature is only phasing in $15 in exchange for phasing out Sunday overtime pay.
And all of this is in the shadow of workers who earn a tipped wage, are not subject to min wage laws altogether, or are paid an above-minimum-but-below-living wage.
To the last point, some of the last figures I saw suggested that while less than 5% of workers were paid the federal minimum, almost half of Americans work in "low-wage" jobs with a median income of $18k/year
I could go on and on --gig economy jobs that pay too little and increasingly charge workers for the privilege of being exploited, the racist history of the FLSA itself, the 1947 amendments that further limited worker rights,,,
Something is certainly better than nothing, and I really hope workers at least get this modicum of support. But, fuck, it's not nearly enough.
