045 The Erickson Report for December 29 to January 12, Page 1: Good News on the Minimum Wage

045 The Erickson Report for December 29 to January 12, Page 1: Good News on the Minimum Wage

I know we're all aching for some Good News, so try this on: On January 1, the minimum wage will rise in 21 states and dozens of cities and counties, with four more states acting later in the year. This is the result of nine years of labor activism springing from the "Fight for 15" movement among fast food workers, which started in 2012.

These increases are due to cost-of-living adjustments and scheduled raises written into local minimum wage laws as more states and localities act on their own in the face of determined inaction at the federal level. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and hasn't been raised for 12 years, the longest it has gone without an increase in its history, which dates back to the Great Depression.

As of January 1, the lowest minimum wage among those 21 states will be $8.42 for small employers in Minnesota, a rather paltry amount but still more than a dollar an hour and more than $2400 a year above the federal level, and in over half of the 21 states the minimum will be at least $12 per hour. In two cases - large employers in California and in New York City along with Long Island and Westchester county - the minimum hourly wage has hit the magic number of $15.

Although several states already have planned increases that will eventually raise their minimum hourly wage to $15, there is still a long way to go, considering not only that by the time they get to $15 it won't be worth $15 any more - in fact it already isn't - but that in 20 states the minimum wage is still the poverty federal level of $7.25.

And I do mean poverty level: Working full time, year-round at $7.25 an hour is $15,080. The federal poverty guideline for a household of two people is $17,420.

But don't let that stop you from savoring the fact that a combination of labor activism and consumer concern - the latter of which, by the way, is why Amazon raised its minimum to $15, as it is so loudly trumpeting now - activism and concern are what has made these gains possible.