Who will benefit from a federal minimum wage increase?
An estimated 13 million workers would benefit from an increase in the federal minimum wage to $7.25 by 2008. Of the total affected workers, 80% are adults and 59% are women. More than one-quarter (26%) of the workers who would benefit from an increase to $7.25 are parents of children under age 18, including 1,395,000 single parents. The average minimum wage worker brings home over half (58%) of his or her family’s weekly earnings. Why do we need a minimum wage increase? Congress has not increased the minimum wage in ten years??the second-longest stretch of government inaction since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938. A minimum wage increase is needed to restore the minimum wage to historic levels. In addition, the minimum wage is 31% of the average hourly wage of American workers, the lowest level since 1947. Can a worker support a family on the minimum wage? One way to answer this question is to ask whether a full-time worker earning the minimum wage would have an income below the f
