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Washington, D.C. – As the Senate considers whether to bring to vote a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour, the Center for American Progress Action Fund published an analysis today on the positive effects this measure would have for millions of American women if passed.
As of 2012, more than 64 percent of Americans earning at or below the minimum wage were women, according to analysis of Current Population Survey data. Nearly 2.3 million women earned $7.25 per hour or less last year, compared to more than 1.2 million men. A mother working 40 hours per week and earning the current federal minimum wage only makes about $15,080 per year, or $4,450 below the federal poverty line for a family of three. Earnings could be raised to approximately $21,000 with a raise in the minimum wage—an increase that would be especially meaningful for the thousands of working women currently attempting to pull themselves and their families out of poverty.
As women have become the breadwinners or co-breadwinners in nearly two-thirds of American families, these low wages have increasingly hindered many families’ ability to get ahead. It is time for Congress to recognize the increasingly important role working women play in our economy and ensure that all women are fairly compensated for their work. Increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour is an important first step—one that would help provide economic security to millions of hardworking Americans and their families.
Read the brief: Raising the Minimum Wage Would Boost the Incomes of Millions of Women and Their Families by David Madland and Keith Miller
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