Contact: Blake Case
blake@emccommunications.com, (601) 832-6079
July 18, 2024—July 24 will mark fifteen years since the last federal minimum wage increase in 2009. This is the longest period by far without a raise since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938. The $7.25 federal minimum wage amounts to just $15,080 a year for full-time workers.
The federal minimum wage peaked in purchasing power in 1968, when the minimum wage was worth $14.70 in today’s dollars, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator. Thirty states now have minimum wages that are higher than $7.25, but many of them are still below the value of the federal minimum wage in 1968, adjusted for cost of living.
Twenty states have minimum wages no higher than the $7.25 federal level: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. There is no state minimum wage in five of these states – Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee – and in Georgia and Wyoming, the state minimum wage is just $5.15, so the federal $7.25 minimum wage applies.
“The minimum wage has fallen so far behind the cost of living that millions of workers are earning wages too low to live on at the minimum wage and above it,” said Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. “That’s bad for workers and businesses. Local businesses depend on customers who make enough to buy their products and services. Raising the minimum wage boosts consumer spending and helps businesses hire and retain employees. Businesses that are more invested in their employees benefit from lower turnover and increased productivity, and the kind of customer service that keeps customers coming back.”
Businesses depend on the buying power of their customers, and the buying power of the minimum wage has decreased significantly in recent decades as increases have lagged further and further behind. Business owners across the country point to increased consumer spending, lower employee turnover, and improved productivity and customer satisfaction among reasons they support raising the minimum wage.
Amy Edelman, owner of Night Kitchen Bakery & Cafe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: “Pennsylvania’s $7.25 minimum wage is outrageously low. It makes Pennsylvania less competitive and means we lose workers to neighboring states with higher wage floors. And it undermines the consumer spending that local businesses like mine depend on. When we take care of our staff, they can take better care of our customers.”
Steven Dyme, CEO of Flowers for Dreams, with locations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (as well as Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis): “It is beyond belief that we haven’t raised the federal minimum wage in 15 years. That’s not helping business. Paying good wages has helped us expand our operations to four states, create more jobs, and increase our sourcing from local farmers around the Midwest. It’s past time to reset the federal minimum wage to a livable, community-building wage.”
Camille Moran, owner of 4 Seasons Christmas Tree and Plant Farm in Natchitoches, Louisiana: “People can’t make ends meet on wages of $7.25 per hour or a couple bucks above it in Louisiana or anywhere else. A long out of date wage floor doesn’t just hurt workers, it hurts businesses like mine, too. Raising the minimum wage puts more money in people’s pockets, which means increased sales at local businesses. People who are constantly worried about keeping a roof overhead and food on the table can’t focus and do their best at work. Louisiana needs a raise. America needs a raise.”
Adam Orman, co-owner of L’Oca d’Oro and Bambino Restaurants in Austin, Texas: “I have seen the power of paying fair wages at my restaurants. Our employees are committed and deeply focused at work, and provide the excellent customer service that our patrons expect. That’s the key to making sure a restaurant stays sustainable. The cost of living has gone up and so should the minimum wage. Consumers understand when fair prices reflect fair pay – not when poverty wages are making companies richer while making communities poorer.”
Mike Draper, owner of Raygun clothing and design, with locations in Des Moines, Iowa City, Ames, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls and Davenport (as well as Kansas City, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; and Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska): “Too many workers in Iowa and other states are working for wages that don’t even cover the basics. In the last 15 years, worker productivity has risen, corporate profits have risen, and the cost of living has risen. It’s past time for the federal minimum wage to catch up. Paying fair wages and good benefits has helped Raygun hire and expand over these last 15 years – including during the pandemic. Raising the minimum wage makes good business sense and will make our economy more resilient.”
Rebecca Hamilton, co-owner of W.S. Badger Company in Gilsum, New Hampshire: “Badger has continued to manufacture and thrive in rural New Hampshire because we invest in our employees. Our good pay and benefits attracts people to come work with us and enables them to stay long term and make our business better. Raising the minimum wage will strengthen New Hampshire’s economy and help communities here and across America thrive.”
Johnny Martinez, co-owner of Joystick Gamebar and Mambo Zombi in Atlanta, Georgia: “For 15 years the minimum wage has fallen further and further behind the cost of living, and that’s inexcusable. It’s not just bad for workers, it's bad for business as well. As a people, we can’t afford to keep doing nothing. I know from personal experience that fair pay helps with hiring and retention of quality people and makes businesses stronger as a result. Raising the minimum wage also increases consumer spending and those monies boost the local economy.”
Along with increased state minimum wages, tight labor markets in recent years have driven the strongest wage growth for low wage workers in decades. But millions of workers still earn very low wages – far below the federal minimum wage of 1968, adjusted for the cost of living. For example, in Louisiana, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median hourly wage for home health and personal care aides in 2023 was just $10. That means half of those workers earn less than $10. In Alabama, the median hourly wage for childcare workers was $10.36; for school bus drivers it was $8.47. Again, that means half of those workers earn less.
Raising the federal minimum wage is the only way to ensure that workers across the country earn decent wages wherever they live and whoever they work for.
Thirteen states plus D.C. currently have a minimum wage of $15 or higher, or are phasing in scheduled increases to $15 or higher: D.C., California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Washington State, which is currently at $16.28. Business owners in Missouri and Alaska are supporting 2024 ballot initiatives to gradually increase the minimum wages in those states to $15 and enable workers to earn paid sick time.
To schedule interviews with business owners and executives supportive of increasing the minimum wage, contact Blake Case at blake@emccommunications.com or (601) 832-6079.
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Business for a Fair Minimum Wage is a national network of business owners and executives and business organizations that believe fair pay makes good business sense. www.businessforafairminimumwage.org.