We're long past overdue for an increase in the federal minimum wage, and the pandemic has only accelerated the crisis. Add your name if you agree: Congress must raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
It's been more than a decade since the federal minimum wage has increased, even when living costs have skyrocketed.
Now working families — especially workers of color — are battling a global pandemic with barely enough to get by.
Two-thirds of Americans support raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. So why hasn't it budged?
Well, follow the money.
Take Walmart and McDonald's — these huge corporations are among the top employers of Medicaid and food stamp beneficiaries.
That means as their executives are making huge profits, those profits don't trickle down to the workers keeping those businesses running — and the government is left to help workers stay afloat.
It's corporate welfare.
Raising the minimum wage would...
Increase income for about thirty million and lift nearly a million families out of poverty.
Help boost income for people of color, who make up a disproportionate share of low-wage earners.
Give workers more money in their pockets to put back into the economy — lifting all boats.
Here's the bottom line: Big business is not hurting during this pandemic. They're doing just fine. Working families are on the brink — and have been struggling long before the pandemic.
We have a chance to include a minimum wage increase in a COVID relief package, which will help our country build back better, stronger, and more resilient. It's time to make it happen.
