The federal minimum wage increase that goes into effect today is only a drop in the bucket for thousands of New Yorkers.
The increase to $7.25 is supposed to affect more than 120,000 workers in New York. But here, where the minimum wage rate was already $7.15, the increase represents a boost of 10 cents per hour. This is hardly news worth cheering in a city where train fare was just hiked, where residents pay the highest electricity rates in the nation and where rent easily soaks up more than 30 percent of income.
At $7.25 an hour, a full-time worker will earn $15,080 annually. So the new minimum wage rate still leaves a working mother and two children, for example, at below the federal poverty line of $18,310. Research shows that workers benefiting from minimum wage increases in New York are disproportionately women. And according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Latina workers in New York earn less than men and women of other racial groups.
Even with two minimum wage earners, the inadequacy of this rate remains glaring. For example, it takes $57,000 for a family of four to remain self sufficient in Brooklyn, according to the Women's Center for Education and Career Advancement. This is without any frills.
The Fiscal Policy Institute recommends that New York State increase its minimum wage in phases so that it would at least meets the federal poverty level. More than a dozen states have minimum wage rates that are higher than New York's, with today's increase included. Ten states factor in cost-of -living increases. This is critical to ensuring that new earnings are not swallowed by inflation.
These are reasonable recommendations and examples for New York and the nation, as federal legislators should understand from the cost-of-living increases automatically factored into their salaries. They, along with state legislators, need to get back to work on keeping wages in check with reality.
These are reasonable recommendations and examples for New York and the nation, as federal legislators should understand from the cost-of-living increases automatically factored into their salaries. They, along with state legislators, need to get back to work on keeping wages in check with reality.
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