Half of the eight battleground states on this yr’s U.S. presidential election use the federal minimal wage of $7.25 an hour, a price that hasn’t modified since 2009 regardless of a 47% surge in the price of dwelling since then. In essence, meaning minimum-wage staff in these states have seen a lot of their buying energy vaporized by inflation over the previous 15 years.
Donald Trump’s October 20 go to to a McDonald’s location in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, the place the previous president served meals to pre-selected supporters, has renewed public consideration on how a lot low-income staff earn. Requested by CBS Information reporter Olivia Rinaldi if he thought the minimal wage ought to be raised after spending time behind the counter on the fast-food restaurant, Trump sidestepped the query.
“Effectively, I feel this. I feel these individuals work arduous. They’re nice,” he stated. “And I simply noticed one thing a course of. It is lovely. It is a good looking factor to see. These are nice franchises and produce numerous jobs, and it is good and nice individuals working right here too.”
Trump’s marketing campaign did not instantly reply to a request for remark concerning the former president’s views on the minimal wage.
Vice President Kamala Harris has acknowledged that she desires to boost the nation’s minimal wage, in addition to the sub-minimum wage that’s earned by tipped staff. Each Trump and Harris have proposed eliminating earnings taxes on suggestions as a option to increase earnings for individuals within the hospitality business.
Whereas the federal minimal wage has been frozen since 2009, 30 states have stepped in to spice up wages for his or her lowest-earning staff, in accordance to the left-leaning Financial Coverage Institute. That is left 20 states nonetheless paying the federal baseline wage, representing annual earnings of $15,000. These states are largely within the South and Midwest, together with the 4 battleground states that use the $7.25 an hour minimal: Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Specialists notice tha staff in these areas are liable to falling behind individuals who reside in states offering the next pay ground.
“It is ridiculous that Pennsylvania has a decrease minimal wage than its neighbors in addition to states like Arkansas, Florida and Nebraska, the place voters had an opportunity to cross raises via poll initiatives,” Holly Sklar, CEO of Enterprise for a Honest Minimal Wage, a bunch that advocates for increased pay, instructed CBS MoneyWatch.
Incomes $7.25 an hour “is a poverty wage, and it is unhealthy for enterprise in addition to staff,” Sklar added.
The minimal wage versus inflation
The renewed concentrate on employee pay comes amid polling that exhibits many individuals persevering with to wrestle financially at the same time as inflation fades and the job market continues to click on.
A majority of People say they really feel worse off than 4 years in the past, in accordance to Gallup, a pessimism that would sway their selections within the November 5 election. And 6 in 10 voters describe the U.S. financial system as both “pretty unhealthy” or “very unhealthy,” based on CBS Information polling.
That’s probably tied to elevated costs brought on by the most popular inflation in 40 years, which outpaced wage progress through the pandemic. But since Could 2023, the standard employee’s pay has outpaced inflation, boosting their buying energy.
That is not the case for staff who earn the federal minimal wage as a result of it is not listed to inflation, a step that some states at the moment are taking to make sure that individuals can sustain with the rising price of dwelling. If the federal minimal wage had been listed for inflation, it could now stand at $10.61 per hour.
The 4 different battleground states have lifted their hourly minimal wage to about that degree, and even increased:
- Arizona: $14.35 an hour
- Michigan: $10.33 an hour
- Nebraska: $12 an hour
- Nevada: $12 an hour
“In our area, the minimal wage has gone up in surrounding states however not in Pennsylvania,” famous Keystone Analysis Heart, a assume tank for Pennsylvania-related points, in a weblog publish. “Minimal-wage staff in Pennsylvania have additionally misplaced floor relative to staff in the course of the wage distribution, that’s, relative to the median wage.”
