Over the last 87 years — particularly during the 20th century — few innovations in the American economy have done more to lift up average working people than the minimum wage.
As it was first conceived and applied, the federal minimum wage law sought to assure that a person who worked full-time was paid enough to support his or her family. And for many decades, the minimum wage actually worked that way for many people.
Unfortunately, in recent decades — thanks to opposition from corporate America and its allies on the political right — the federal minimum wage has long since ceased providing a living wage. Indeed, it’s now been more than 16 years since the minimum wage was raised to $7.25 per hour — a rate that was inadequate in 2009 and that is downright absurd in 2025.
But wait, it gets worse. If you’re someone who works for tips, the minimum wage (the so-called sub-minimum wage) is an astonishing $2.13 per hour.
Not surprisingly, as journalist Eyal Press reported in a recent New Yorker magazine article entitled “‘No taxes on tips’ is an industry plant,” “the poverty rate among tipped workers is more than double the rate of other employees. Tipped workers are also more likely to rely on food stamps and other federal assistance.”
And while many states and cities have gone ahead and raised their minimum wages to much higher levels in recent years, in most others — including North Carolina — it’s still legal to pay the pitiful sums of $7.25 and $2.13 per hour. In case you...
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