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Friday, December 22nd, 2023

The minimum wage is going up in 22 states on Jan. 1

Author:     Emily Peck
Source:     Axios
Publication Date:     Dec 18, 2023
Link: The minimum wage is going up in 22 states on Jan. 1
Stephan:  

If you live in a Red state your minimum wage may be less than half of what it is in a Blue state. For example, the minimum wage in Texas on the 1st of January 2024 will be $7.25 per hour; if you live in Washington state it will be $16.28. It amazes me that hourly wage workers continue to vote for Republicans who are responsible for this dramatic differential. Red staters have shorted lives, worse health care, more out-of-wedlock births, higher maternal mortality, higher infant mortality, more obesity, inferior education, and on and on. See my latest Podcast for more factual details on this. The evidence is absolutely clear, Republican governance is always inferior compared with Democratic governance.

The minimum wage is set to increase in 22 states on Jan. 1, 2024.

Why it matters: For Americans making minimum wage, it’s an automatic raise — but it also ripples out. Typically, increasing the wage floor for the lowest earners pushes up pay for those who make a bit more than the minimum, as employers have to adjust pay scales upwards.

The big picture: More states are requiring a $15 an hour minimum wage — including New York, Maryland, and New Mexico — a dozen years after Fight for $15 kicked off its campaign.

  • Thanks to inflation, the dollar amount doesn’t quite mean what it used to.

Zoom in: In 13 states wages are going up because they’re indexed to inflation, including California, Ohio and South Dakota.

  • Three more states and Washington, D.C., are set to raise the wage later in the year.
  • The last time the federal minimum wage ($7.25) was increased was in 2009.
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