D.C. City Council approved of $15 minimum wage hourly pay last month. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, D.C. will raise the minimum wage in the year 2020.
The Washington Post stated that supporters believe that the pay raise is necessary to decrease the pay gap between the higher class and lower class citizens. D.C. happens to have the largest pay gap in the country, according to recent federal data.
The National Conference of State Legislatures showed that D.C. currently has the highest minimum wage in the country.
Supporters also believe the pay raise is important because the cost of living is so high and it is continuously increasing. Mayor Bowser said, “When I see how much it costs to live in Washington, D.C. — and that cost is only going up — we know that it takes more money for every household to be able to afford to live”
As a result of the pay raise in D.C., other states, such as New York and California, agreed to issue the $15 minimum wage. Other states are taking similar measures as well to raise minimum wage.
When asked about the $15 movement, Adam Levi, Multi Branch Sr. Relationship Banker, said, “there are upsides and downsides and more things to consider as well.”
The pay raise will affect many things in the government and in businesses. Many people that oppose the raise do not like the fact that many businesses will have to fire workers in order to stay open and pay their workers more money. Job availability will go down in the future.
However, many supporters believe that the current minimum wage does not keep up with inflation. An increase to $15 an hour will allow minimum wage workers to have “a standard of living commensurate with the current economy.”
Levi supports the pay raise, believing that “it will help a lot of people out because the minimum wage as of now isn’t ideal for people who are struggling and in debt.” He believes it is necessary to increase the pay.
Levi addressed some downsides to the pay raise as well. When asked about job availability and job decrease, “I could see jobs decrease happening and that businesses will probably have to lay off people, which is unfortunate.”
The Mayor of DC, Muriel Bowser, is in favor of the pay increase and said in a statement, “At the State of the District Address, I announced that we would take up the fight for $15 in the District of Columbia to give more Washingtonians a fair shot at economic opportunity.”
As of now, presidential candidates, Clinton, Sanders, and Trump are all in support of the federal minimum wage increasing as well.
Five years ago, a $15 minimum wage was considered too radical. But when people see the justice of an idea, it catches fire very quickly.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 9, 2016