Minimum-wage workers across the US are getting a pay bump in 2022. Higher minimum wage laws took effect across 21 states and 35 cities in the US on Jan. 1. It’s the largest simultaneous increase of sub-national minimum wage policy in US history, according to the National Employment Law Project.
While most states’ increased their minimum wage to $10 and $13 per hour, California and New York set $15 statewide minimums. California’s applies to nearly all businesses across the state. New York’s applies to fast-food workers across the state, as well as all workers in New York City.
The federal government last raised minimum wages to $7.25 per hour (the equivalent of $9.54 in today’s dollars) in 2009. While this is still the floor in 20 states, it applies to fewer and fewer Americans. Local policies and economic pressure have pushed wages well above this rate giving employers little choice except to raise wages if they want to attract employees or meet city and state mandates. In 2020, only 1.5% of hourly workers in the US earned at or below $7.25 per hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The fight to increase wages has largely moved to cities and states. While some of the wage increases on Jan. 1 were regularly-scheduled inflation adjustments, roughly half were the result of new legislation or ballot measures phasing in wage hikes. In 2018, Massachusetts passed legislation to create a $15 minimum wage by 2023. Delaware and Illinois...
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