LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The movement to increase the minimum wage is growing, across the country and in Kentuckiana. Senator Bernie Sanders has been calling out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell all summer for not bring up a debate in the Senate on the topic. Meanwhile, advocates are going to hold a press conference in Louisville Tuesday to make their case.
Before we dive into the topic of raising the minimum wage, let me say upfront: I know this is a contentious topic, and there’s a lot of debate over the data. Just so you know, I’m pulling statistics and information from the Department of Labor, the Congressional Budget Office, and from the Center for Poverty Research (which is part of the University of California, Davis).
The minimum wage globally can be traced all the way back to 1894, when New Zealand became the first country to enact a minimum wage law. We wouldn’t get one in the United States until 1938 when Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. It set the minimum wage at $0.25 per hour.
Since then, that amount has been raised 22 times, most recently in 2009 when it was set at its current rate of $7.25 per hour. 29 states actually have set their own minimum wages higher than that, but Indiana and Kentucky are not among them.
A minimum wage worker makes $15,080 per year working part-time. Advocates for raising the minimum wage argue that this is not enough money to live on, and that’s why they’re fighting to increase it to $15 per hour. That level would put the minimum wage at the highest value it’s ever been, according to a Center for Poverty Research analysis. Right now, the highest minimum wage value belongs to 1968, which was worth $11.39 when adjusted for inflation.
“The American people want that debate,” said Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in a Facebook video directed at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “They know that so many people are working at starvation wages.”
A Pew Research survey this spring found that 2/3 of Americans support the idea of a $15 minimum wage. There is, however, a partisan divide: 57% of Republicans oppose the minimum wage, saying it could lead to higher prices and fewer jobs. A study from the Congressional Budget Office suggests that a minimum wage hike would increase the pay of at least 17 million people, but could also put 1.3 million Americans out of work.
“It would cost, according to the Congressional Budget Office, between 1 and 3 million jobs lost,” McConnell said on the Fox Business network. “We don’t need to lose jobs. We don’t have enough jobs now.”
---
MORE WHAS UP:
Want to know "WHAS up" with something? Rob Harris is your guy. He's talking to some of the smartest people in our community to find out more about science, history, urban legends, local quirks, and more.
Have a question or topic you want him to check out? Send him a tweet or a Facebook post.