Report Shows Benefits of $9.50 an Hour Raise for Minnesota

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.jobsnowcoalition.org/news/2013/press_raise-for-mn_2013-10.html

John Clay
JOBS NOW Coalition, October 23, 2013

SAINT PAUL — A $9.50 an hour Minnesota minimum wage would help working families and working adults pay for basic needs and give the state's consumer economy a boost, according to "A Raise for Minnesota," a report released by JOBS NOW Coalition in Saint Paul. The report looks at workers whose wages are below $9.50 an hour, as well as those slightly above who would see a raise due to what economists call the "spillover effect." A wage of $9.50 an hour is $19,760 a year for a full-time worker.

"What’s eye-opening in this data is both the sheer number of working Minnesotans whose lives would be improved by a $9.50 wage and how these workers cut across the demographic spectrum," says John Clay, policy director for JOBS NOW Coalition and author of the report. Some 357,000 Minnesota workers would get a raise, the report estimates.

JOBS NOW Coalition is statewide research and policy coalition of more than one hundred community, faith, and labor organizations, dedicated to promoting jobs that pay a family supporting wage.

The report, which examines a range of demographic categories including educational attainment, gender, marital and parental status, and race, is based on an analysis of state data from the US Current Population Survey. Economic sector, industry, and occupation are examined as well.

Among the report’s key findings, a $9.50 an hour minimum wage would:

Improve the income of 357,000 working Minnesotans across the demographic spectrum.
Improve the income of 274,000 working adults, age 20 and up.
Improve the income of 202,000 working women.
Improve economic security for 137,000 children whose parents are low-wage earners.


FULL story at link.