Raise the Minimum Wage!
Full title: An Act relative to raising the minimum wage closer to a living wage in the Commonwealth (H.1925/S.1200)
Lead Sponsors: Rep. Tram Nguyen and Rep. Dan Donahue; Sen Jason Lewis
Committee: Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development
The Issue
In 2018, Massachusetts set an example for other states and the country by passing a $15 minimum wage. As of January 2023, the full increase has now taken effect, but $15 has lost significant purchasing power due to the rising cost of food, utilities, rent, and other basic necessities. Indeed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, today’s minimum wage would need to be $17.91 to have the same purchasing power as $15 in July 2018. [2/2024 update: $18.36]
The $15 minimum wage, while an improvement, is also not a living wage. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a living wage for a single adult with no children would be $21.35 per hour. [2/2024 update: $27.89] When children enter the picture, that threshold for meeting basic needs gets higher and higher. Moreover, if the minimum wage did rise in step with productivity growth since 1968 it would be almost $21.50 an hour.
The Solution
It’s time to raise the minimum wage again. These bills would raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour, phased in over four years. They would raise the tipped minimum wage to $12 per hour from $6.75 per and index it to 60% of the full minimum wage.
They would index the minimum wage to inflation so that its value does not erode, with annual calculations by the executive office of labor and workforce development.
Finally, the bills would make sure that municipal workers are also guaranteed a minimum wage, eliminating an exemption that has left too many workers behind.
Contact Your Legislators
Find your legislators’ contact information here.
Dear [Legislator],
In 2018, Massachusetts set an example for other states and the country by passing a $15 minimum wage, which finally took effect this January. However, the purchasing power of that $15 has declined over the past five years due to rising inflation.
I urge you to co-sponsor and champion legislation to raise the minimum wage again, this time to $20, which would bring us closer to a living wage: H.1925/S.1200 (Nguyen/Donahue – Lewis).
According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a living wage for a single adult with no children would be $21.35 per hour, a number that rises with household size. No one should have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet.
Notably, the bill corrects a glaring omission from the last minimum wage increase by including hard-working municipal employees. I was shocked to learn that such positions are exempt from the minimum wage. Municipal workers like paraprofessionals are vital to our community and deserve fair compensation.
- MA now has a $15 minimum wage, but with recent inflation, that’s well below a living wage. It’s time to raise the wage and give workers what they deserve.
- Inflation has eroded much of the value of our new minimum wage in MA. We need to raise it and index it to inflation.
- If the minimum wage kept up with productivity growth since 1968, it would be $21.50 an hour. Workers deserve a fair deal. Let’s raise the minimum wage.
- No one should have to work multiple jobs to afford rent and other basic necessities. Let’s make sure all workers get a living wage.
- Did you know that municipal workers were left out of the last minimum wage increase in MA? *All* workers deserve a living wage.
Write a Letter to the Editor
Adapt the template below! Or email us at issues@progressivemass.com for help!
Massachusetts workers had reason to celebrate this January when the $15 minimum wage finally took full effect. However, due to rising inflation, $15 today is not worth as much as it was when passed five years ago, let alone when the #Fightfor15 campaign started.
And it is still not a living wage. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a living wage for a single adult with no children would be $21.35 per hour. For a couple with one child in which both are working, the living wage would be $24.72 per hour. When more children enter the picture, or one partner is unable to work, that threshold for meeting basic needs gets higher and higher.
Addressing the high cost of living in Massachusetts will require addressing the cost of things like housing, health care, and child care, but it will also require raising wages. Fortunately, Sen. Jason Lewis and Reps. Tram Nguyen and Dan Donahue have filed a bill to raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour and index it to inflation, so that it doesn’t lose value over time. Notably, the bill corrects a glaring omission from the last minimum wage increase by including hard-working municipal employees.
When people don’t have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet, we all benefit. Let’s keep the fight going for an economy that works for all and raise the wage again.
Read More
- “Living Wage Calculation for Massachusetts.” Living Wage Calculator. 2023. accessed March 19, 2023, https://livingwage.mit.edu/states/25.
- Baker, Dean. “This is What Minimum Wage Would Be If It Kept Pace with Productivity.” Center for Economic and Policy Research. January 1, 2020. https://cepr.net/this-is-what-minimum-wage-would-be-if-it-kept-pace-with-productivity/.
- Kamper, Dave and Sebastian Martinez Hickey, “Tying Minimum-Wage Increases to Inflation, as 13 States Do, Will Lift up Low-Wage Workers and Their Families across the Country.” Economic Policy Institute. September 6, 2022. https://www.epi.org/blog/tying-minimum-wage-increases-to-inflation-as-12-states-do-will-lift-up-low-wage-workers-and-their-families-across-the-country/.
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