The current (federal) minimum wage is $7.25/hr.
Only 18 states have a minimum wage higher than the federal standard.
The minimum wage reached its (inflation-adjusted) historic high in 1968, when it was raised from $1.40 to $1.60 per hour. Adjusted for inflation that would come to $10.55 per hour (in 2012).
However, per capita income excluding current transfer receipts — that is, the personal income earned in the economy, excluding Social Security and other government programs, adjusted for inflation — has grown by 100.6% since 1968.
In other words, if minimum wages had kept pace not with just inflation alone but rather with overall income growth in the American economy, it would now be $21.16 per hour.
$7.25/hr @ 40hrs/wk = $290/wk ($15,080/yr)
$10.55/hr @ 40hrs/wk = $422/wk ($21,944/yr)
$21.16/hr @ 40hrs/wk = $846/wk ($44,012/yr)
Democrats are currently proposing a minimum wage increase to $10.10/hr. Democrats are also proposing that the minimum wage be tied to inflation and automatically increase accordingly.
$10.10/hr @ 40hrs/wk = $404/wk ($21,008/yr)
30.3 million workers would get a raise if the minimum wage was increased to $10.10/hr.
The most recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll (taken 2 weeks ago) found that 63% of Americans (including 47% of self-identified Republicans) support raising the minimum wage to $10.10/hr.
One more thing...
In conjunction with the $10.10/hr minimum wage increase proposal, Democrats are also including a raise in the minimum wage for "tip" workers (waiters, bartenders, drivers, etc.). The proposal would set the minimum wage for tip workers at 70% of the regular minimum wage.
The current (federal) minimum wage for tip workers is $2.13/hr.
If the standard minimum wage was $10.10/hr, then the minimum wage for tip workers, if set at a 70% threshold, would translate to $7.07/hr.
An increase from $2.13/hr to $7.07/hr would raise the annual income of tip workers by $10,275.
And now I'm done.
