WASHINGTON Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Friday proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $7 an hour by 2007.
The Massachusetts senator said the increase from the current $5.15 could boost the wages of more than 15 million American and help 7 million escape poverty.
He touted his plan during a stop at a community college in Alexandria, Va., and during a day of events in Washington.
Democrats have typically advocated hiking the minimum. Republicans tend to oppose increases, saying they hurt the least skilled workers by forcing employers to cut jobs when labor costs rise.
Kerry and President Bush agree that an increase in the federal minimum is warranted, but disagree over critical details, such as the size, timing and way it would be phased in. Bush, for example, wants to allow states to opt out of a federal minimum wage law.
"If we can have trillions of dollars of tax cuts for the wealthiest people, we can fight for a raise in the minimum wage," Kerry said in Alexandria.
The period since the last increase eight years ago is the second longest stretch without a hike since the minimum-wage law was established in 1938, said Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute, an economist allied with the Kerry campaign.
About 60 percent of minimum-wage earners are women, and about a third of that group are black or Hispanic, said economist Eileen Applebaum of Rutgers University.
Kerry's proposed increase, she said, would translate into about $3,800 in additional earnings for a full-time minimum-wage worker. That employee would earn $10,300 for a 50-week work year, she said.
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With a minimum-wage job today at $5.15, a person who works a 40 hour week would earn a maximum of $11000 per year, well below the poverty line. This makes a lot more sense then cutting taxes, because getting an extra $300 back from taxes is not the same as earning an extra $4000 a year.
The Massachusetts senator said the increase from the current $5.15 could boost the wages of more than 15 million American and help 7 million escape poverty.
He touted his plan during a stop at a community college in Alexandria, Va., and during a day of events in Washington.
Democrats have typically advocated hiking the minimum. Republicans tend to oppose increases, saying they hurt the least skilled workers by forcing employers to cut jobs when labor costs rise.
Kerry and President Bush agree that an increase in the federal minimum is warranted, but disagree over critical details, such as the size, timing and way it would be phased in. Bush, for example, wants to allow states to opt out of a federal minimum wage law.
"If we can have trillions of dollars of tax cuts for the wealthiest people, we can fight for a raise in the minimum wage," Kerry said in Alexandria.
The period since the last increase eight years ago is the second longest stretch without a hike since the minimum-wage law was established in 1938, said Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute, an economist allied with the Kerry campaign.
About 60 percent of minimum-wage earners are women, and about a third of that group are black or Hispanic, said economist Eileen Applebaum of Rutgers University.
Kerry's proposed increase, she said, would translate into about $3,800 in additional earnings for a full-time minimum-wage worker. That employee would earn $10,300 for a 50-week work year, she said.
~~~~~~~~~~
With a minimum-wage job today at $5.15, a person who works a 40 hour week would earn a maximum of $11000 per year, well below the poverty line. This makes a lot more sense then cutting taxes, because getting an extra $300 back from taxes is not the same as earning an extra $4000 a year.
