Economics
Bloomberg View: Raise the Minimum Wage
The current wage floor is far too low
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Congress last approved an increase to the minimum wage in 2007, raising it in stages up to $7.25 an hour in 2009, or $15,080 a year. Adjusted for inflation, that amount is lower than what a minimum-wage worker earned in 1968 and is too meager to offer anyone the chance to climb out of poverty, let alone afford basic goods and services.
About 10 states are now considering raising the rate, and Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, is proposing to increase the federal rate in three increments to $9.80 an hour in 2014. Many of the initiatives under consideration would smartly tie the minimum wage to the cost of living, meaning that those workers’ wages would finally keep up with inflation.