Increasing the Minimum Wage for All New Yorkers
Since 2006, the minimum wage in New York State has remained stagnant at $7.25 per hour. Our workforce deserves better.
When Congress first implemented a minimum wage in 1938, it was intended to ensure that low-wage workers would earn a livable wage. However, the minimum wage has fallen decades behind the growing rate of inflation.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation's minimum wage peaked in 1968 – at the 2010 equivalent of $9.60. If the 1968 minimum wage of $1.50 had been indexed to keep up with inflation, it would have had the purchasing power today of $10.03. Here in New York, if our state minimum wage had been indexed to keep up with inflation it would be approximately $10.80 today.
New York's current minimum wage is not nearly sufficient enough to meet the rising costs of food and shelter, let alone provide for the costs of healthcare, transportation, child care and other necessities that hard working New Yorkers and their families face every day.
In 2010, there were over 264,000 people in New York State earning at or below the minimum wage, many of whom are right here in the five boroughs.
With cost of living well above the national average it is vital that our wage standards here in New York reflect this fact. The guarantee of a livable wage benefits not only workers and their families; it is also a direct benefit for New York’s overall economy.
Under a bill I’ve sponsored, our minimum wage would go up to $8.50 per hour - still well below what it would be if it had been indexed for inflation. That increase would make our minimum wage among the highest in the nation – second only to Washington State. I am confident that when we head back to Albany after the New Year we can come to an agreement with our colleagues in the Senate to pass this legislation immediately.