Raise the Minimum Wage: The Fight for $15
Take Action to Support Low Wage Workers
Corporate profits are at an all-time high, yet the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009. Nobody working 40 hours per week should live below the poverty line and not be able to pay their bills, feed their families, or keep a roof over their head. It’s time to raise the minimum wage.
Here’s what you can do about it.
Learn the basics
Poverty wages
We are currently experiencing the longest period in history without a federal minimum wage increase. Economists estimate that if the federal minimum wage had kept up with inflation, today it would be closer to $24 per hour. Instead, it’s only $7.25 (or about $15,000 annually). These are poverty wages. In the U.S., the 2021 federal poverty level for a single person is $12,880 (or $26,500 for a family of four). A recent study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that a full-time, minimum-wage worker cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment in 93% of U.S. counties. And, there is no place in the U.S. where they can afford a two-bedroom apartment.
Minimum wage versus living wage
The minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law. In the U.S., it was first created in 1938 with the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA was designed to create a minimum standard of living and protect workers from falling into poverty. However, it purposefully excluded protections for agricultural and domestic workers and included subminimum wages for tipped workers (jobs traditionally held by people of color). It also failed to protect disabled workers, claiming that workers with disabilities were less productive than able workers. Today, the subminimum wage for disabled workers is $1.45 per hour.
Even if a person makes the minimum wage and lives above the poverty level, they are not making a living wage. A living wage is a hypothetical income level, adjusted for location, that allows individuals or families to meet their basic necessities and afford adequate shelter, food, and healthcare. That is, if you work 40 hours per week, you should be able to afford the cost of living. Check out the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the minimum wage to the living wage where you live.
Racial and gender pay gaps
Advocates suggest that raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour is the single most impactful way to reduce racial and gender pay and wealth gaps and help to tackle rising inequality.
Forty-two percent of workers in the U.S. make less than $15/hour. Women and workers of color are disproportionately represented in low-wage jobs. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), raising the minimum wage to $15 would benefit almost 32 million workers (or 21% of the workforce), including:
28.9 million adults ages 20 and older
19 million full-time workers
19 million women
19 million essential and frontline workers
9 million parents
4.4 million single parents
Samantha Bee and “Full Frontal” break it down for you.
We often prefer to use people-first language (a way to avoid using labels to define someone with the intention of recognizing the person instead of their trait). For example, people with disabilities versus disabled people. However, many people in the disability community prefer “disabled person” because they feel that identity-first language is destigmatizing and affirming. When in doubt, go with what the people with lived experience around you prefer.
Instead of using a term like “unskilled job” or “unskilled labor” consider a term like “low-wage job” to acknowledge that low-wage jobs often require a lot of skill, and many high-paying jobs don’t inherently employ people that are more skilled than people with low-paying jobs.
Support federal legislation
Attempts to raise the federal minimum wage failed in the Senate in March 2021 when eight moderate Democrats and all 50 Republicans voted against the measure. Underpaid workers and their allies are not giving up; they need your support to continue building pressure on lawmakers.
CONTACT YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO:
Pass the Raise the Wage Act of 2021
The Raise the Wage Act would:
Immediately lift the federal minimum wage to $9.50 an hour and incrementally increase it to $15 an hour over the course of five years (by 2025).
Immediately double the hourly wage of tipped workers to $4.98 (allowing them to keep tips still) and continue incremental increases until it is equal to the regular minimum wage by 2027.
Phase out waivers that allow employers to pay disabled people a subminimum wage.
Phase out the youth wage (a provision that allows employers to pay people under 21 a subminimum wage for their first 90 days on the job).
Once the minimum wage reaches $15/hour in 2025, automatically increase the minimum wage each subsequent year so that we don’t fall behind again.
Contact your senators using this One Fair Wage form.
Sign up for action alerts with Raise the Minimum Wage.
Pass the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act
All disabled people have the right to competitive employment in an inclusive workforce. Support employment equity for disabled people by letting your Members of Congress know you want to eliminate the subminimum wage for disabled workers and ask them to pass the Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act.
Contact your reps using this Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE) form.
Enact state and local laws
Despite federal inaction, many states and localities have passed their own minimum wage increases. Thirty states have increased their minimum wage above the federal level and 45 localities have adopted minimum wages above the state level. However, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) suggests that the remaining 20 states won’t raise their own minimum wage without federal action.
Find out how your state stacks up using this EPI Minimum Wage Tracker.
If your state or locality has not increased its minimum wage, join a state or local coalition to fight for $15. Do an internet search to find a local campaign and get involved.
Join the Fight for $15
Stand in solidarity with underpaid workers by joining the movement for $15 per hour. The Fight for $15 is a global movement powered by underpaid workers (think: fast-food workers, home health aides, child care providers, airport workers, adjunct professors, retail employees). It began in New York City in 2012 when fast-food workers walked off the job and took direct action to demand fair and dignified work. Since then, it’s won raises for 26 million people across the country by organizing workers, pressuring corporations to do the right thing, and helping pass legislation at the state level.
Join the Fight for $15 to receive updates and take action alerts or to organize your workplace.
Use your consumer power
Opponents worry that increased minimum wages will place undue burden on business owners, particularly small-business owners, causing a rise in consumer prices, layoffs, and unemployment. In fact, economists and researchers are divided on the issue, and you can find research to support positions both for and against raising the minimum wage.
However, proponents claim that the benefits of increasing the minimum wage far outweigh increased payroll costs and bolster local economies.
Many of the country’s largest low-wage employers have already begun implementing wage increases, including Amazon, Costco, Starbucks, Target, and Walmart. Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national network of business owners and executives who believe a fair minimum wage makes good business sense, has nearly 1,000 signatories. And, as employers struggle to fill jobs following pandemic-related slowdowns, many businesses are realizing that the only way to attract employees is to offer a fair wage.
Support local businesses that already adhere to a $15 minimum wage. For business owners who don’t, let them know that this is an issue you care about and ask them what they plan to do. Learn more in our How to Harness Your Consumer Power For Good post.
Visit One Fair Wage for ideas on how to support tipped restaurant workers and demand restaurant employers pay up.
Use your hiring power
If you are a business owner, hiring manager, or another decision-maker when it comes to making job offers you have the power to be part of the change.
Support unions and unionization
The labor movement believes that workers should receive a fair share of the wealth they help to create and that income levels should rise as profits and productivity rise. That 40 hours per week should be enough to live on and retire with dignity. Unions build power for working people by collectively bargaining for things like fair wages, decent working conditions free from hazards and harassment, raises, affordable healthcare, job security, and stable schedules.
Learn more about how unions support the fight for $15 and take action with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Donate | Follow | Amplify
These national groups are leading efforts to raise the minimum wage. Donate to support their work. Follow for updates and urgent action alerts. Amplify their message to raise awareness.
Check out our posts Making the Most of Your Monetary Donations and What Is A Nonprofit to increase your impact when you donate.
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Originally published August 31, 2021.
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