Minimum wage hikes in 14 states in 2016: How high will they go?
| Chicago
As the United States marks more than six years without an increase in the federal听minimum听wage听of $7.25 an hour, 14 states and several cities are moving forward with their own increases, with most taking effect on Friday, Jan. 1.
California and Massachusetts are highest among the states, both increasing from $9 to $10 an hour, according to an analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures. At the low end is Arkansas, where the听minimum听wage听is increasing from $7.50 to $8. The smallest increase, a nickel, comes in South Dakota, where the hourly听minimum听is now $8.55.
The increases come in the wake of a series of "living听wage" protests across the country, including a November campaign in which thousands of protesters in 270 cities marched in support of a $15-an-hour听minimum听wage听and union rights for fast food workers. Food service workers make up the largest group of听minimum-wage听earners, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
With Friday's increases, the new average听minimum听wage听across the 14 affected states rises 听
Several cities are going even higher. Seattle is setting a sliding hourly听minimum听between $10.50 and $13 on Jan. 1.听
Depending on the size of the business and whether the employees have health insurance, workers in Seattle will make as much as $13 an hour听minimum听in 2016.听In November, voters in Tacoma, Wash., approved a graduated increase to $12 an hour, reports the Associated Press.
Los Angeles and San Francisco are enacting similar minimum wage increases in July, en route to $15 an hour phased in over six years.
Backers say a higher听minimum听wage听helps combat poverty, but opponents worry about the potential impact on employment and company profits.
In 2014, a Democratic-backed congressional proposal to increase the federal听minimum听wage听for the first time since 2009 to $10.10 stalled, as have subsequent efforts by President Barack Obama. More recent proposals by some lawmakers call for a federal听minimum听wage听of up to $15 an hour.
Alan Krueger, an economics professor at Princeton University and former chairman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, said a federal听minimum听wage听of up to $12 an hour, phased in over five years or so, "would not have a noticeable effect on employment."
Some employers may cut jobs in response to a听minimum-wage听increase, Krueger said, while others may find hikes allow them to fill job vacancies and reduce turnover, lifting employment but lowering profits.
In recent years, an increasing number of states and municipalities have enacted their own听wage-floor policies. Currently, 29 states plus the District of Columbia and about two dozen cities and counties have their听minimum听wage听at levels higher than the federal听minimum.
Many are now in the midst of multi-year phase-in plans that will ultimately take them to between $10 and $15 an hour.
The 14 states where increases took effect on Jan. 1 are: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated 2014 federal proposal would have raised the听wages of 16.5 million Americans and lifted 900,000 of them out of poverty but would have cost as many as 1 million jobs.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Chicago, Editing by Sara Catania and Cynthia Osterman)
