Today marks the third year minimum wage workers haven’t seen a raise. While the price of just about everything else has skyrocketed (milk, eggs, health care, college), full-time minimum wage workers are barely making more than $15,000 a year.
The National Employment Law Project (NELP) is encouraging workers, advocates and community members to take action today by rallying to support a minimum wage increase. Events are taking place all over the country, and NELP has an online petition you can sign here.
Here are 10 facts you need to know from NELP about the minimum wage:
$10.55
How much the federal minimum wage would be if it had kept up with inflation over the past 40 years. Instead, it’s $7.25. Learn more.
$15,080
The annual income for a full-time employee working the entire year at the federal minimum wage.
0
The number of states where a minimum wage worker can afford a two-bedroom apartment working a 40-hour week. Learn more.
3
The number of times Congress passed legislation to increase the minimum wage in the past 30 years.
19
The number of states (including the District of Columbia) that have raised their minimum wage above the federal level of $7.25.
10
The number of states that annually increase their state minimum to keep up with the rising cost of living.
67
The percentage of Americans who support gradually raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to at least $10.00 an hour, according to an October 2010 poll.
64 in 100 vs. 4 in 100
What are the chances an adult minimum wage worker is a woman vs. the chances a Fortune 500 CEO is a woman? Learn more.
76
The percentage of Missouri voters that voted to increase and index the Missouri minimum wage in the 2006 ballot initiative.
$2.13
The federal minimum wage for tipped employees, such as waiters and waitresses, nail salon workers or parking attendants.
Learn more about the National Day of Action to Raise the Minimum Wage here.
This blog originally appeared in AFL-CIO on July 24, 2012. Reprinted with permission.
About the Author: Jackie Tortora recently joined the AFL-CIO as the blog/social Media editor. Before that, she was a Social Security and Medicare advocate for a national seniors’ organization.
