$700 billion. $9 trillion. $12.2 trillion. These are just a few of the amounts the federal government committed to in its bailout packages earlier this year, as reported by the New York Times. With these incomprehensible numbers now part of our everyday lexicon, it’s hard to look back and believe that a $2.10 increase in the minimum wage over a two-year period received such contentious debate when it was considered in 2007.
AAUW was a strong proponent for the raise in the federal minimum wage throughout the debates in the 109th Congress, because we understand that the minimum wage is a working woman’s issue and is especially pertinent to women of color. Of the 11.8 million workers estimated to receive a pay increase as the result of the legislation, 58 percent were women. Furthermore, 33 percent of female minimum-wage workers are African American or Hispanic, even though they make up only 23.6 percent of the female workforce.
When the legislation came to Congress in 2007, minimum-wage workers earned $5.15 per hour and hadn’t received a raise in more than 10 years, making it the second-longest stretch of government inaction since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938. And after adjusting for inflation, the Economic Policy Institute found the value of the minimum wage to be nearly 30 percent lower than it was in 1979. Clearly a raise was long overdue.
Today, per the 2007 legislation, the minimum wage will officially rise to $7.25 an hour, up from $6.55. A recent NPR article, citing statistics from the Labor Department, estimates that up to 15.5 million workers will benefit from the raise. AAUW remains a strong supporter of the raise and celebrates its passage as an important step toward increasing the economic security of working women and their families.
This post is by AAUW Public Policy Fellow Stephanie Vertongen.
