Tying minimum-wage increases to inflation, as 12 states do, will lift up low-wage workers and their families across the country
The August Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which will be released later this month, are expected to show continued rising prices over the past year. Fortunately, 12 states and the District of Columbia index their minimum wage to the CPI, automatically adjusting the minimum wage annually to protect low-wage workers and their families from rising costs.
Workers earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25, which has remained unchanged since 2009, are being paid a wage worth less, after inflation, than at any time in the last 66 years. As elevated inflation makes it harder for many workers to make ends meet, “increasing the minimum wage is sound policy that supports working families”, say EPI’s Dave Kamper and Sebastien Hickey. | Read the blog
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