The DC City Council voted unanimously to lift the minimum wage, planning for the future after 2020 when the minimum wage should be raised to $15, and the years leading up to it.
“As of July 1, 2017, the minimum wage required to be paid to any employee by any employer in the District of Columbia, shall be $12.50 an hour” the legislation reads (B21-0712). There will be a steady increase of wages in the years following until 2020, when the minimum wage will be “$15.00 per hour.”
Afterwards, “beginning on July 1, 2021, and no later than July 1 of each successive year, the minimum wage… shall be increased in proportion to the annual average increase” in the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Residents of DC have a majority who agree with the minimum wage increase: “I love it!” says Jackie, a cashier at a convenience store in DC. “The cost of living in DC is high. People need [a higher minimum wage] to survive.”
Cost of living is an issue that will be affected by minimum wage; the majority who agree with the $15 increased wage believe that by raising the DC minimum wage, it will make it easier for those in DC on minimum wage to be able to support themselves in an area with one of the highest costs of living in the country.
A professor at American University agreed, “The minimum wage should be raised. People need to pay their rent.” It is also simply not a matter of economics, agrees the professor, but “about human dignity.”
Another opinion is given in a telephone interview with Tony Howard, the Loudoun County of Virginia’s CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. He states, “It [the minimum wage increase] has to increase the cost of living… it will have an upward pressure.”
He justified by discussing how the increase will not just have an effect on minimum wage workers, but on those who are above them on the pay grade.
“The guy paid $13 before with the new $15 minimum wage will say ‘Hey, that’s not enough, I need $17.’” Tony discussed the effect the plan would have on DC’s cost of living, “… the percentage of those who are above [the minimum wage] and those who are paid minimum wage will determine it [the effect on cost of living]… It will be proportionate.”
There are others that are affected by the rise in minimum wage, most directly a business’ ability to actually pay it. According to the Former CEO of McDonalds in an interview conducted by Fox Business, the $15 minimum wage is a “Job Killer.” In other words, the raised minimum wage will put pressure on businesses.
Businesses have a fixed pool of money from their profits which is for workers, and it is logical to believe that if each worker gets more money than before, the pool cannot give the same amount of people the new amount of money, which means loss of jobs.
The Former CEO of McDonald’s stated that “small businesses will be crucified” with the new rules that pertain to the higher minimum wage.
CEO Tony Howard agreed. “Employers will have to find a way to cut costs, or increase costs on the consumers.” Tony explains that the diversity of responses between big and small businesses is because of “Margins”.
An example he gave is between Starbucks and an independent, small cafe in the state of Virginia, his home state. Starbucks can afford to buy more coffee beans than the small cafe because it has a more diverse market, and can thusly charge less on their drinks than the small businesses, who cannot market as extensively as a massive chain; this is the essence of the business margins.
“They [businesses] need to make ends meet,” he said. “DC will see that prices will rise or people will lose their jobs.”
On the other hand, according to one who is directly affected by the newly changing minimum wage movement, Jackie the cashier has a different outtake. “It’ll give more to businesses, with more people looking for jobs to pay what they need.” She continued, “they’d be more willing to do certain jobs.”
DC is not the only place to have considered raising their minimum wage. According to the Washington Post, California and New York are already in the process of increasing their minimum wage to $15 as well.
The $15 movement even reached DC through an organized group from New York, who is demonstrated in the picture at the beginning of this article. Their campaigns in DC inspired a similar rally with DC residents leading the way.
The $15 movement has grown to a national level, and the differences between states are growing more apparent.
DC’s current minimum wage is the highest in the country, however California and Massachusetts is a close second, according to the Department of Labor, as of January of 2016. Many of the numbers have been updated including DC’s, which as of July 1 is now $11.50.
States that are known for their industrialization and higher population areas (cities for example) seem to be on the higher end of the bar graph, such as Maryland who has almost 6 million people according to the latest Census, Washington with about 7 million people, and Michigan state with almost 10 million people.
Those who have lower populated cities, such as Mississippi who has about 3 million people according to the latest Census, Alabama at around 4.9 million, and Louisiana at around 4.7 million, are on the lower end of the bar graph as well.