Minimum Wage Is Set To Increase For 20 States in 2019

I guess 2019 is smelling like money for real. The new year will mean more money for a lot of people, about 17 million people to be exact because the minimum wage in 20 states will increase come January.

Those states include California, Missouri and New York, where workers will see the minimum wage increase to $15, according to @USAToday. Worker’s in D.C.will also be seeing an increase.

These increases are either due to policies designed to help lower-income workers or they are just regularly scheduled cost-of-living adjustments.

“[Cost-of-living adjustments] are small increases, but at least workers won’t be falling behind inflation in the coming years” said Yannet Lathrop, researcher and policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project (NELP).

According to NELP, states aren’t the only ones tackling minimum wage increases. Workers in 38 cities and counties also are scheduled to raise their minimum wages, according to the NELP report. Next up is a wage higher than $15 in more expensive states and cities.

“In some parts of the country, $15 is not a living wage, so folks need to think about a higher wage,” Lathrop said. “Hawaii is already thinking about a $17 minimum wage bill.”

Here are the states that are set to see increases: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington.

The effective date for most of these states is January 1st, 2019. The increases range from $8 on the low end to $15 in states with high costs of living. Some of these increases are just the first step toward a larger increase in the coming years.

#Roommates, will you be seeing an increase in pay this year? Let us know!

TSR STAFF: Christina C! @cdelafresh