SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
(Photo: uusc4all/cc/flickr)
California Set to Increase Minimum Wage to $10 an Hour
New rate still below a living wage
Sep 13, 2013
California's lawmakers approved a bill on Thursday to raise the state minimum wage to $10 an hour over three years.
Currently, the minimum wage in the state set four years ago is $8 an hour, 75 cents above the federal minimum wage. The bill would gradually increase the wage to $10 an hour by 2016. That would make the state's minimum wage higher than the current highest state minimum wage of $9.19 an hour in Washington.
The increase will affect hundreds of thousands of people:
About 730,000 Californians earn minimum wage of $8, and another 185,656 earn less per hour, according to the state Department of Finance analysis of U.S. Census data.
The California Labor Federation estimates 1.6 million hourly workers in the state earn less than $10 per hour.
Some lawmakers and other groups including the California Chamber of Commerce fought the wage increase, saying it would be a job-killer. However, a recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute on raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour showed it would boost economic growth:
Recent research reveals that, despite skeptics' claims, raising the minimum wage does not cause job loss. In fact, throughout the nation, a minimum-wage increase under current labor market conditions would create jobs. Like unemployment insurance benefits or tax breaks for low- and middle-income workers, raising the minimum wage puts more money in the pockets of working families when they need it most, thereby augmenting their spending power. Economists generally recognize that low-wage workers are more likely than any other income group to spend any extra earnings immediately on previously unaffordable basic needs or services.
And, while the wage increase is a step in the right direction, if the federal minimum wage had kept pace with productivity growth, the rate would be $17.19 an hour according to an analysis by the Center for Economic Policy Research.
Further, $10 an hour is still well below a living wage for Californians.
According to MIT's Living Wage Calculator, a single adult working full time in California would need to earn $11.20 an hour to make a living wage, while a single adult with two children would need to earn $26.33 an hour to make a living wage.
__________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
California's lawmakers approved a bill on Thursday to raise the state minimum wage to $10 an hour over three years.
Currently, the minimum wage in the state set four years ago is $8 an hour, 75 cents above the federal minimum wage. The bill would gradually increase the wage to $10 an hour by 2016. That would make the state's minimum wage higher than the current highest state minimum wage of $9.19 an hour in Washington.
The increase will affect hundreds of thousands of people:
About 730,000 Californians earn minimum wage of $8, and another 185,656 earn less per hour, according to the state Department of Finance analysis of U.S. Census data.
The California Labor Federation estimates 1.6 million hourly workers in the state earn less than $10 per hour.
Some lawmakers and other groups including the California Chamber of Commerce fought the wage increase, saying it would be a job-killer. However, a recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute on raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour showed it would boost economic growth:
Recent research reveals that, despite skeptics' claims, raising the minimum wage does not cause job loss. In fact, throughout the nation, a minimum-wage increase under current labor market conditions would create jobs. Like unemployment insurance benefits or tax breaks for low- and middle-income workers, raising the minimum wage puts more money in the pockets of working families when they need it most, thereby augmenting their spending power. Economists generally recognize that low-wage workers are more likely than any other income group to spend any extra earnings immediately on previously unaffordable basic needs or services.
And, while the wage increase is a step in the right direction, if the federal minimum wage had kept pace with productivity growth, the rate would be $17.19 an hour according to an analysis by the Center for Economic Policy Research.
Further, $10 an hour is still well below a living wage for Californians.
According to MIT's Living Wage Calculator, a single adult working full time in California would need to earn $11.20 an hour to make a living wage, while a single adult with two children would need to earn $26.33 an hour to make a living wage.
__________________
California's lawmakers approved a bill on Thursday to raise the state minimum wage to $10 an hour over three years.
Currently, the minimum wage in the state set four years ago is $8 an hour, 75 cents above the federal minimum wage. The bill would gradually increase the wage to $10 an hour by 2016. That would make the state's minimum wage higher than the current highest state minimum wage of $9.19 an hour in Washington.
The increase will affect hundreds of thousands of people:
About 730,000 Californians earn minimum wage of $8, and another 185,656 earn less per hour, according to the state Department of Finance analysis of U.S. Census data.
The California Labor Federation estimates 1.6 million hourly workers in the state earn less than $10 per hour.
Some lawmakers and other groups including the California Chamber of Commerce fought the wage increase, saying it would be a job-killer. However, a recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute on raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour showed it would boost economic growth:
Recent research reveals that, despite skeptics' claims, raising the minimum wage does not cause job loss. In fact, throughout the nation, a minimum-wage increase under current labor market conditions would create jobs. Like unemployment insurance benefits or tax breaks for low- and middle-income workers, raising the minimum wage puts more money in the pockets of working families when they need it most, thereby augmenting their spending power. Economists generally recognize that low-wage workers are more likely than any other income group to spend any extra earnings immediately on previously unaffordable basic needs or services.
And, while the wage increase is a step in the right direction, if the federal minimum wage had kept pace with productivity growth, the rate would be $17.19 an hour according to an analysis by the Center for Economic Policy Research.
Further, $10 an hour is still well below a living wage for Californians.
According to MIT's Living Wage Calculator, a single adult working full time in California would need to earn $11.20 an hour to make a living wage, while a single adult with two children would need to earn $26.33 an hour to make a living wage.
__________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.