Only 10 cents in 6 years? It's time to raise the NY minimum wage for families and the economy!

Working families are struggling to survive on just $290 per week in a state that has one of the highest costs of living in the country. That is what full-time working New Yorkers make if they earn the $7.25 an hour minimun wage. Over 880,000 members of New York's workforce earn less than $8.50 an hour, and most of them are women! In fact, New York's minimum wage is the same as Nebraska --a state with one of the lowest costs of living in the country.

It is time to act! Assembly Bill 9148 would raise New York’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50, and index it to inflation so that it automatically adjusts to keep pace with rising costs of living. At $7.25 per hour, New York’s current minimum wage is just $15,080 for a full-time, year-round worker.

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have higher minimum wages than New York. This includes neighboring Connecticut ($8.25), Massachusetts ($8.00) and Vermont ($8.46). Even much lower-cost-of-living sunbelt and Midwest states like Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Illinois, and Montana have higher minimum wages than New York. In Washington State, the minimum wage is $9.04 – nearly $2 higher than New York.

Unlike New York, ten states automatically update or “index” their minimum wages each year to keep pace with the rising cost of living. If New York’s minimum wage had kept up with inflation over the past forty years, it would be approximately $10.80 per hour today. New York’s minimum wage has only gone up 10 cents in the last five years.

Raising the minimum wage is GOOD for famlies AND the economy.

The most rigorous research over the past 15 years, including studies comparing job growth trends in neighboring counties across state lines with different minimum wages, have found that higher minimum wages do not result in job losses. Importantly, this research shows that these trends are the same even for minimum wage increases implemented during weak economic periods, such as the 2009 federal minimum wage increase.
Contrary to myth, the minimum wage is chiefly about large corporations, not mom-and-pop businesses. The majority of low-wage workers are, in fact, employed by large chains, not small mom-and-pop businesses.
In retail, New York’s largest low-wage industry with 269,000 employees, the data show that large chains are paying substantially less than smaller retailers – on average, a stunning 23% less.

Sign Today!

Dear Gov. Cuomo and NY State Assembly,

We write to express our strong support for raising New York’s outdated minimum wage.

We urge you to do everything in your power to ensure that New York raises its minimum wage to at least $8.50 per hour this year, and indexes it to keep pace with inflation. This is an important change for all New Yorkers for the following reasons:

New York has some of the highest cost of living in America. Yet, the minimum wage is the same in New York as it is in Idaho or Kentucky.
Someone working full-time at minimum wage earns $290 a week, or just $15,080 yearly working all 52 weeks of the year. This is far below the income people in New York need just to cover the basic costs of food, housing, transportation, healthcare, and other essentials—and is leaving hard-working people and families in poverty.
Today, at $7.25 per hour, New York’s minimum wage is well below the federal poverty level. If New York’s minimum wage had kept pace with inflation over the past 40 years, it would be approximately $10.80 per hour today. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, New York’s minimum wage averaged above the federal poverty level.

No person who works should be poor. Each week we witness how poverty cripples the lives of our community members despite their working long hours, often at multiple jobs. We firmly believe in every person's human dignity and that every worker deserves a fair wage and the ability to make a decent living. In a state with the greatest inequality gaps between the rich and the poor, there is no excuse for New York's current minimum wage.

An increase in the minimum wage would not only help working families in New York make ends meet, but also serve as a key strategy for setting New York’s economy on the path to real recovery. It is one of the most effective ways to stimulate the consumer spending that drives our economy, without adding a dime to the deficit. The Fiscal Policy Institute estimates 7,500 jobs will be created in New York State from the increase of the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour.

More than a million workers stand to benefit from increasing New York’s minimum wage to $8.50 per hour – just over 11% of all New York workers. Raising the minimum wage to $8.50, as this bill would do, is a very modest proposal that would just begin to put New York’s working families on better economic footing, while boosting the consumer spending our economy needs to recover.

We, as members of MomsRising with more than a million members nationwide, are counting on you to make sure that New York raises its minimum wage to at least $8.50 per hour this year, and indexes it to inflation. It is the right thing to do.

Sincerely,

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Subject: This is NY, not Nebraska! Your message to friends:

Wow! Have you seen this from MomsRising?

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It's time for NY to stop short-changing women!

Last year thousands of MomsRising.org members told Governor Coumo that NY’s outdated minimum wage hurts working women and families. Along with our partners, we kept the pressure on and last week during the State of the State, the Governor joined our call and declared, "The current minimum wage is unlivable." [1]

He’s right! Full-time working New Yorkers earn $7.25 an hour if they make minimum wage. This is only $15,080 for full-time, year-round work. And get this, of the more than 880,000 members of New York’s workforce who earn minimum wage, MOST OF THEM ARE WOMEN! [2,3]

New York, a state that has one of the highest costs of living in the nation, has a minimum wage that is the same as Nebraska's--a state with one of the lowest costs of living in the country. [4] And, there has only been a 10 cent increase of minimum wage in the last five years.

We have Cuomo’s attention, now it’s time for the state legislature to act!

*Tell the New York State Senate and Assembly to pass legislation this session raising the minimum wage to at least $8.75 per hour and indexing it to rise automatically with the cost of living. http://action.momsrising.org/sign/NYMinimumWage2?source=taf

Raising a family on just $290 per week in a state that has one of the highest costs of living in the United States sounds impossible. But, that's exactly what some full-time working New Yorkers try to do if they earn the $7.25 an hour minimum wage.

A higher minimum wage will help the state's lowest-paid workers make ends meet, and indexing the minimum wage to rise automatically with the cost of living will protect the purchasing power of the minimum wage from eroding as the price of basic goods rises. With the cost of food, rent, and utilities always on the rise in New York, it's impossible for the minimum wage to remain stagnant.

Eighty percent of all New Yorkers want to raise in the minimum wage. [5] And for good reason: A yearly income of $15,000 puts a single mom with two children under the federal poverty line. That’s bad for the economy.

*Tell the Senate and Assembly to help our economy and stand up for working women and families. Raise New York's minimum wage to at least $8.75 per hour, with indexing to establish annual increases that keep pace with inflation. http://action.momsrising.org/sign/NYMinimumWage2?source=taf

Raising the minimum wage DOES NOT result in job loss. The most rigorous research over the past 15 years, including studies comparing job growth trends in neighboring counties across state lines with different minimum wages, have found that higher minimum wages do not result in job losses. [5] Importantly, this research shows that these trends are the same even for minimum wage increases implemented during weak economic periods, such as the 2009 federal minimum wage increase. [6]

Contrary to myth, the minimum wage is chiefly about large corporations, not mom-and-pop businesses. Large chains employ two-thirds of all low-wage workers in the country. [7] In retail, New York’s largest low-wage industry with 269,000 employees, the data show that large chains are paying substantially less than smaller retailers – on average, a stunning 23% less. [8]

Women business leaders get it! Margot Dorfman, CEO of the US Women's Chamber of Commerce, with over half a million members said, "The number one problem for our member businesses is that the recovery is slow because sales are still weak. Too many of their customers have been out of work or are working for lower pay or are fearful about their economic future, and as a result have cut back on their spending. Raising the minimum wage puts dollars in the pockets of the workers who are by necessity most likely to spend them immediately in the local economy." [9]

*It is time to act! It’s wrong to expect people to work full-time and live in poverty. Tell the NY Senate and the Assembly to increase the minimum wage and index it to rise with the cost of living. http://action.momsrising.org/sign/NYMinimumWage2?source=taf

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have higher minimum wages than New York. This includes neighboring Connecticut ($8.25), Massachusetts ($8.00) and Vermont ($8.60). Even much lower-cost-of-living sunbelt and Midwest states like Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Illinois, and Montana have higher minimum wages than New York. In Washington State, the minimum wage is $9.19 – nearly $2 higher than New York.

Unlike New York, ten states automatically update or “index” their minimum wages each year to keep pace with the rising cost of living. If New York’s minimum wage had kept up with inflation over the past forty years, it would be approximately $10.70 per hour today. New York’s minimum wage has only gone up 10 cents in the last five years.

The bottom line is this: Raising the minimum wage will strengthen New York’s families. When our families are strong our economy benefits!

Together we are a strong force for women and families.

- Monifa , Ruth, dream, Charlie and the whole MomsRising.org team

1 - http://www.newsday.com/business/cuomo-ny-should-raise-minimum-wage-to-8-75-an-hour-1.4427903
2 - Fiscal Policy Institue - http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_NumbersThatCount_BenefitsOfIncreasingTheMinimumWage.pdf
3 - National Women's Law Center - http://www.nwlc.org/resource/fair-pay-women-and-people-color-new-york-requires-increasing-minimum-wage-and-tipped-minimu
4 - TLC - http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/5-us-states-with-lowest-cost-of-living4.htm
5 - Raise the Wage -http://raisetheminimumwage.org/pages/job-loss
6 - Raise the Wage - http://raisetheminimumwage.org/pages/new-york-key-facts-on-assembly-bill-9148
7 - Raise the Wage - http://raisetheminimumwage.org/pages/new-york-key-facts-on-assembly-bill-9148
8 - NELP - http://nelp.3cdn.net/eb5df32f3af67ae91b_65m6iv7eb.pdf
9 - Times Union - http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Wage-hike-would-help-women-3621209.php

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