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A $13.13 Minimum Wage Means 1.2 Million NYers Earn An Extra $100/Week
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jun 16, 2014
Modified Jun 16, 2014
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jun 16, 2014
Modified Jun 16, 2014
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Seattle just raised their minimum wage to $15/hour, the highest in the country, and San Francisco is poised to do the same. The minimum wage is $10.50/hour in Vermont, $10.10 in Connecticut, and Washington, D.C.'s will be $11.50 by 2016. Meanwhile, New York's $8/hour ($9 by 2016) continues to be the lowest of any major city, a fact noted by Comptroller Scott Stringer, who just released a report [PDF] detailing the effects of raising the minimum wage in the city to $13.13/hour: 1.2 million New Yorkers would receive an extra $100/week.
"A minimum wage of $13.13 is likely to benefit New York City’s working poor substantially," the report reads. The Comptroller's office arrived at $13.13 because it would be the largest allowable under a minimum wage bill currently working through Albany. The bill would raise the state minimum wage to $10.10/hour by the end of 2015, and allow municipalities to raise it further by 30%.
Cuomo claims to support the bill, yet Republicans in the State Senate do not. Time is running out; this year's session ends on Thursday.
Stringer's brief report dismisses concerns that raising the minimum wage would hurt employment with a study from 2010 [PDF]. "Businesses adjust costs through some combination of higher prices, lower profits and increased efficiency," the report reads, adding that people tend to spend more money when they earn more of it, thereby helping businesses in the process.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25, and has less purchasing power than it did in the 1960s.
“New York City deserves the ability to set its own minimum wage,” Stringer said in a release. “We are falling behind other states and cities when it comes to the minimum wage, despite the fact that this is the most expensive city in which to live in the nation."
Tagged
Albany
fast food workers
living wage
minimum wage
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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