More Good News from Delaware: Minimum Wage Increase Passes Senate

Last week I wrote about a proposed minimum wage increase that had passed through the Delaware Senate Labor Committee. This week, I am happy to report that the bill has cleared the Senate! The bill would raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 by January 1, 2013. This increase is needed and welcome—but it’s still not enough to bring the wages of a single mother with two kids working full time, year round, above the poverty line. 

Women would especially benefit from an increase in the federal minimum wage because nearly two-thirds of the workers who made at or below the federal minimum wage in 2010 are women. And the recovery has been especially slow for women, who, by the end of 2011, had gained only 3% of the jobs added since the recovery started in June 2009.

The bill still has to go through the House. If the House approves the bill, then Delaware will join 18 other states, in addition to the District of Columbia, that have a minimum wage above the federal level of $7.25 per hour. During these tough times, a minimum wage increase would give the economy a necessary boost as well as much needed support to low-wage workers and their families.