California and New York are signing legislation for an increase in minimum wage to $15 an hour, similar to that of D.C.’s. NPR interviewed multiple sources on how the implementation would affect their lives.
WASHINGTON – A unanimous Washington D.C. City Council vote raised the minimum wage to $15. Gradually the wage will increase until it reaches $15 in the year 2020, but as of July 2016, it raised to $11.50 an hour.
“I think it [the minimum wage increase] will have a positive impact because living cost has spiked,” Whole Foods employee Haddy Gaye said. “It will be beneficial to people working on the lower end of the scale who still have bills to pay that originally surpassed their wage.”
The national minimum wage is set at around $7.25 per hour, however almost all state governments, such as Florida who pays $8.05 an hour, regulate their own. The Democratic Party added the $15 minimum wage to their platform recently according to the Fight for $15 Foundation.
Former democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders supported a federal minimum wage at $15, but called for immediate action. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton also stated that she would support a $15 federal minimum wage, but at a more gradual pace than what Sanders was asking.
Washington D.C. is a city associated with a high living cost. According to the Washington Post, the average resident needs to make $108,092 a year to reside comfortably in D.C. With a higher minimum wage, it would be a possibility that more people will have a larger yearly income allowing for a more comfortable living.
“Cheat Sheet then determined how much a household would need to earn a year in order to live ‘comfortably,” the Washington Post reported.
“The report used $75,000 as the ‘magic salary number’ based on a 2010 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study indicating that someone’s day-to-day emotional well-being doesn’t increase after a household income hits the $75,000 threshold. Cheat Sheet then adjusted that income level up or down using a cost-of-living calculator and comparing each city to Phoenix.”
“I think it will have a positive impact because living cost has spiked,” Gaye said. “It will be beneficial to people working on the lower end of the scale who still have bills to pay that originally surpassed their wage.”
Washington D.C. is said to have one of the biggest pay gaps among classes meaning that there is a large separation between how much the higher class makes compared to the low one. The new minimum wage may be a factor towards a decrease in this gap, however it may drive a wedge between minimum wage paying businesses and the government. So, the effect of this new legislation had to do with what class a citizen is in.
“I was getting $10.50 an hour,” Robeks Fresh Juices and Smoothies employee Leroy said. “The increase in minimum wage makes me feel good because I can save up for my car and help out my family.”
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) states that the minimum wage increase will increase wages for over 114,000 people if implemented, which is about one-fifth of the D.C. private-sector workers.The EPI research also stated that this would not necessarily apply to teenage workers. Mostly, it would affect adult minimum wage employees. All of the affected employees are going to be age 20 and above. “Teenagers are a mere 2.5 percent of the workers who would get a raise,” EPI reported.
“I had a minimum wage job in high school at a hair salon, but I didn’t have bills so it was okay,” American Valet Dry Cleaning Employee Amanda Corvelli said. “Then, I got a car so my paycheck was gone and I had no money [as a teenager].”
Organizations such as the Fight for $15 rallied for the legislation in Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., as well as other cities, to promote their beliefs on the issue. The official Fight for $15 mission statement is “There’s work to do before every worker gets $15 an hour and a union – but together, I know that we will win.”
“I think it’s [the national movement] a positive impact because their is such a large gap between the $8 [minimum] in Florida and the $15 here in D.C.,” Gaye said. “I don’t think the living cost gap is that extreme between the states. But, I think it would be beneficial to have it equal across the board for all states.”