Should We Raise the Minimum Wage?

AuthorSanders, Bernie
PositionDebate

The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour has remained the same since 2009. But local governments are allowed to set a higher rate, and 29 states and the District of Columbia have done so (see map), as well as numerous cities and counties. In April, Senate Democrats introduced a bill to gradually raise the federal minimum to $15 an hour. But many Republicans, including President Trump, oppose an increase. Two senators face off on whether raising the federal minimum wage is a good idea.

YES

In the wealthiest country in the history of the world, a basic principle of American economic life should be that if you work 40 hours or more a week, you don't live in poverty. Sadly, that's not the case today.

While large corporations make record-breaking profits and top CEOs earn about 335 times more per hour than the average worker, millions of Americans are trying to survive on totally inadequate wages. The situation has become so absurd that there isn't a single state in America where a fulltime minimum wage worker can afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment.

The current $7.25-an-hour federal minimum wage is a starvation wage. It must be raised to a living wage. That's why I'm introducing legislation to raise it to $15 an hour by 2024 and then automatically adjust it to keep up with the rising cost of living.

Since 1968, the minimum wage has lost more than 25 percent of its purchasing power. That's a major reason why more than 43 million Americans are living in poverty. Health-care costs, childcare costs, college costs, and housing costs are all going up. Wages are not. That's got to change.

By phasing in a pay raise for tens of millions of workers, we can improve living standards, lift millions of Americans out of poverty, and provide a much-needed boost to our economy. Our bill will raise the wages of 41 million workers, giving full-time workers an extra $3,500 a year.

Today almost 70 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP) is dependent on consumer spending. When low-wage workers have more money in their pockets, they spend that money in grocery stores, restaurants, and other businesses. All of this new demand gives companies a reason to expand and hire more workers. This is a win-win-win situation for our economy. Poverty is reduced. New jobs are created. And we begin to reduce the enormous gap between the top 1 percent and everyone else.

The bottom line isn't complicated: A job must lift workers out of poverty, not keep them in it. To do...

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