Biden wants a $15 hourly federal minimum wage. Is America ready? (nbcnews.com)
President Joe Biden on Friday is expected to introduce his proposal to raise the federal hourly minimum wage, which has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009. Biden will begin the process by requiring that everyone working for the federal government be paid a minimum of $15 an hour.
Organized labor and its supporters have been agitating for a $15-an-hour minimum wage for nearly a decade, but shifting political winds, the embrace of populism by both parties and widespread financial pain for Americans at the bottom of the income spectrum make a minimum wage hike a policy whose time may finally have come.
“If the federal minimum wage were to be raised it would provide a much-needed financial shot in the arm for many of those still in a position of financial fragility,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com.
Resistance to raising the wage floor has waxed and waned over the years, he added. “Before the erosion of the political middle ground in recent years, the idea of a federal minimum wage was far from controversial. It was seen as helping the economy and also reflected a statement that labor was valued.”
Putting more money in the hands of workers could boost economic activity at a time when it is flagging. “That money would be put to work through consumer spending, and savings, ultimately providing support to the broader economy,” Hamrick said.
It could also help taxpayers. In a new report, researchers at the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, Berkeley, found that nearly half of poor families rely on one or more of the five taxpayer-supported safety net programs including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Temporary Aid for Needy Families, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Collectively, this costs taxpayers $107 billion a year — money that worker advocates contend could be put to better use were it not effectively subsidizing corporations’ strategy of holding down labor costs by letting publicly funded assistance pick up the slack.
President Joe Biden on Friday is expected to introduce his proposal to raise the federal hourly minimum wage, which has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009. Biden will begin the process by requiring that everyone working for the federal government be paid a minimum of $15 an hour.
Organized labor and its supporters have been agitating for a $15-an-hour minimum wage for nearly a decade, but shifting political winds, the embrace of populism by both parties and widespread financial pain for Americans at the bottom of the income spectrum make a minimum wage hike a policy whose time may finally have come.
“If the federal minimum wage were to be raised it would provide a much-needed financial shot in the arm for many of those still in a position of financial fragility,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.com.
Resistance to raising the wage floor has waxed and waned over the years, he added. “Before the erosion of the political middle ground in recent years, the idea of a federal minimum wage was far from controversial. It was seen as helping the economy and also reflected a statement that labor was valued.”
Putting more money in the hands of workers could boost economic activity at a time when it is flagging. “That money would be put to work through consumer spending, and savings, ultimately providing support to the broader economy,” Hamrick said.
It could also help taxpayers. In a new report, researchers at the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, Berkeley, found that nearly half of poor families rely on one or more of the five taxpayer-supported safety net programs including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Temporary Aid for Needy Families, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Collectively, this costs taxpayers $107 billion a year — money that worker advocates contend could be put to better use were it not effectively subsidizing corporations’ strategy of holding down labor costs by letting publicly funded assistance pick up the slack.
But he's gotta do something to keep the progressives off his back
