Summer Reading for the House GOP: New Report Shows Why We Must #RaiseTheWage
August 13, 2014
As Speaker Boehner and House Republicans take time off from doing practically nothing in Congress, millions of hard-working low wage workers are struggling to make ends meet. Economists, business leaders, advocates and even conservative leaders have called on the GOP to stop blocking a minimum wage increase – but, so far, House Republicans have refused.
A new report by the White House underscores the benefits of raising the minimum wage across the country:
Some key points:
- Thanks to statewide efforts, more than 7 million workers will experience the benefits of a minimum wage increase in their wages as of 2017:
- California: 3,323,000; Connecticut: 138,000; D.C.: 43,000; Delaware: 30,000; Hawaii: 71,000; Massachusetts: 540,000; Maryland: 286,000; Minnesota: 347,000; Michigan: 482,000; New Jersey: 510,000; New York: 994,000; Rhode Island: 51,000; Vermont: 20,000; West Virginia: 95,000.
- Cities such as Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Las Cruces (New Mexico), and counties like Prince George's in Maryland have taken bold steps to increase wages for their employees, local workers, and contractors.
- Large and small businesses such as IKEA and Costco, and some colleges and universities, have followed suit.
- The President's efforts to raise the minimum wage for federal contractors will benefit nearly 200,000 workers.
The benefits of jumpstarting the Middle Class by raising the minimum wage are undeniable:
- 25 million hard-working Americans across the country will benefit if the national minimum wage is increased to $10.10.
- 15 million American women – including six million working moms – would see a wage increase.
- Nearly four in 10 women working minimum-wage jobs are women of color. 2.4 million African American women and 3.3 million Latina women would see their pay increased if the minimum wage was raised to $10.10 an hour.
- Increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would mean an additional $1,300 a year for low-wage working moms – enough to buy 10 weeks of groceries for a family of four.
It is time for Speaker Boehner and his Republican colleagues to join Democrats to #RaiseTheWage and jumpstart the middle class.