The Economic Policy Institute is one of the very few think tanks in Washington, D.C. that cares about the status of working people. When one of its reports gets attention, critics are fast to point out that it is funded by unions. The same critics are silent when a think tank is funded by one or more billionaires, who like low taxes.
The value of the federal minimum wage has reached its lowest point in 66 years, according to an EPI analysis of recently released Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. Accounting for price increases in June, the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is now worth less than at any point since February 1956. At that time, the federal minimum wage was 75 cents per hour, or $7.19 in June 2022 dollars.
We are currently in the longest period without a minimum wage increase since Congress established the federal minimum wage in 1938.
As shown in the chart below, a worker paid the current $7.25 federal minimum wage earns 27.4% less in inflation-adjusted terms than what their counterpart was paid in July 2009 when the minimum wage was last increased. They earn 40.2% less than a minimum wage worker in February 1968, the historical high point of the minimum wage’s value.
After the longest period in history without an increase, the federal minimum wage today is worth 27% less than 13 years ago—and 40% less than in 1968
Real value of the minimum wage (adjusted for inflation)
Note: All values in June 2022 dollars, adjusted using the CPI-U in 2022 chained to the CPI-U-RS (1978–2021) and CPI-U-X1 (1967–1977) and CPI-U (1966 and before).
Source: Fair Labor Standards Act and amendments.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Huh, I wonder what could be done about that?
You have a point. This should be the most important priority for Democrats. Ofc, we’ve seen a long history of Repugnican obstructionism with regard to proposed minimum wage increases. However, Democrats really need to make this a priority. It should be out front and first in their messaging. But there are many DINOs.
I wonder how many people around here actually earn minimum. The historically low wage business in our county is advertising near 15 bucks on billboards
Well, 40 years of Pisson the Peeons economics will do that, eh?!
Ah, so that’s the meaning of GOPee!
The GOP has the distinction of having last raised the minimum wage. In 2007 they approved a minimum wage increase from $5.15 to $7.25 in three steps, the last of which happened in July of 2009, so Obama is often erroneously given credit for it.
Stop the presses! Wow! The Greying Old Party is actually the party of ordinary working people!!! What an astonishingly great job they have done of keeping that a secret day in and day out for decades!!!! And here we all thought they were the party of Donald Trump and Putin and billionaire oligarchs!!! But no. No. 15 years ago, they wiped some crumbs off the table for poor people to eat!!!
OMG it wasn’t “the GOP” who raised the minimum wage in 2007!
The hypocrisy of this Putin and Trump defenders’ double standard is truly a good example of pure chutzpah.
The only reason there was a minimum wage increase was because Democrats tried to get it passed and the only way the Republicans would agree was to include it in the huge Iraq War spending bill like dienne77 wanted! Of course, dienne77 still blames Democrats for “supporting” an Iraq War spending increase and gives Republicans credit for the minimum wage. Talk about outrageous misinformation. dienne77 please stop reading dishonest sources for your “information”.
Here is what John Boehner, leader of the Republicans in the House, said:
“Representative John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio and the House minority leader, criticized the wage provision along with a set of domestic spending measures attached to what was viewed as “must pass legislation.”
“We’ve got a host of issues that don’t deserve to be put on the backs of the military,” Mr. Boehner said. “It’s a sneaky way to do business.”
“Democrats countered that Congress had waited too long and that many workers had suffered because of the lower rate.
“Wages have been unconscionably frozen for the last decade” said Representative David R. Obey, Democrat of Wisconsin and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, estimated that in the first year that the full increase would take effect, it would provide a family of three with money to buy an additional 15 months of groceries.”
“After the bill is signed, the wage increase will become the first item in the “Six for ’06” agenda of the new Congressional Democratic leadership to become law.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, said the increase was overdue.
“After 10 years of indifference,” Ms. Pelosi said, “we are raising wages for the hardest-working Americans.”
A few days ago dienne77 lectured the educators here about using the far more reliable information sources she uses — wouldn’t be be great if teachers were forced to inform all high school students that in 2007, Republicans worked very hard to make sure the minimum wage for workers was raised.
Truly, what a crock of misinformation worthy of Putin. Whose propaganda websites were probably the sources that dienne77 used. Because useful idiots are what keeps the far right empowered and the progressive movement in danger of being destroyed.
FYI, time for dienne77 to now pivot to blaming those Dems for having to make unappealing compromises to get that done. Her hypocrisy is unbelievable. She gave full credit for the REPUBLICANS! For getting their military and business spending by giving away what they hate — a minimum wage increase.
FYI, Bernie Sanders voted FOR the minimum wage increase, even though he did not support the increased defense spending because he understands that we live in a democracy and he can’t “lock up” the Republicans who block this or disenfranchise their voters.
Dienne can always be counted on to tell us that the Democrats are worse than the Republicans. Her theory: they have the same screw the little guy policies but pretend otherwise. There is an element of truth in this, and that’s why it’s particular pernicious.
Bob,
dienne77 said “The GOP has the distinction of having last raised the minimum wage. In 2007 they approved a minimum wage increase from $5.15 to $7.25 in three steps, the last of which happened in July of 2009, so Obama is often erroneously given credit for it.”
The GOP did NOT “last raise the minimum wage”. The GOP voted for military spending and the Democrats (and Bernie Sanders) got the minimum wage increase that DEMOCRATS were fighting for by including it in the military spending bill, which made the Republicans mad.
There is no truth at all in any comment giving Republicans (instead of Democrats) credit for the 2007 minimum wage increase. It ONLY happened because Democrats forced Republicans’ hand.
It’s problematic to excuse lies and misleading propaganda because something entirely different may be true.
There is “an element of truth” to the right wing propaganda that teachers union puts the interests of teachers above the interests of students, and have the same screw the students’ policies that right wing Republicans have but pretend otherwise.
But what does that have to do with whether someone should be able to post misleading rhetoric like “teachers unions protect lazy teachers and pedophile teachers”?
If “element of truth” about something entirely different is now license to blatantly lie and demonize teachers, then public education is doomed because those who want to destroy it can just act like dienne77 and say the most horrible things about teachers and they are condoned because “after all, there is an element of truth to the fact that the union cares more about teachers than students.”
It doesn’t matter if there is an “element of truth” about teachers unions or democrats being imperfect. They ARE imperfect.
That doesn’t give someone the right to post deceiving comments to get the public to hate the teachers’ union for something that they didn’t do.
Or to give credit to the folks who want to destroy union teachers for something good that they most certainly did not support.
I’m just sick and tired of neocons in the Democratic Party. I’d like to see these people gone. If the Democratic Party does not offer clear alternatives, it will lose. The notion that it has to “moderate” in order to win is completely wrong. And these days, what passes for moderation is what used to be called extreme conservativism (now that almost the entire Repugnican Party has gone off the fascist deep end into the Alternative Facts Trump Universe.
As the GOP goes to the extreme right, it pulls the Dems to the center right. Just as far-right Republicans run primaries against conservatives like Greg Abbott not to win but to drag them them even more to the right. It worked for the extremists in the GOP. Doesn’t work for Dems because they end up soulding like an echo of GOP and lose motivated voters.
Would that the national Democratic Party understood this as you do, Diane!
I don’t get it. Dems are currently more progressive than I have seen since I was a kid, and it still isn’t good enough.
It’s true there are conservative Dems. There have always been conservative Dems. But when the Senate is tied 50-50, they have power. The answer isn’t to scapegoat the Dems but to elect a lot more Democrats.
It’s a shame that the left didn’t figure out a way to push the false narrative from 1980 – 2020 that conservative voters should abandon the Republican party in droves because the Republican party was dishonest and untrustworthy. Imagine if conservative voters heard every single day about how Republicans were all liars who secretly wanted to keep abortion legal and that’s why abortion was still legal, and Republicans secretly hated Christians and that’s why Christian school prayer wasn’t mandatory, and Republicans obeyed their teachers’ union masters and that’s why vouchers had not yet replaced public schools.
But ironically, Republican voters are not nearly as gullible as progressive voters in believing that the lack of Republicans getting done everything they want is because the Republicans are secretly controlled by the teachers’ union or the socialist party or the Atheists of America
Instead, those Republicans voted for MORE Republicans, giving them significant majorities in the Senate.
Is Joe Manchin more conservative that Robert Byrd? It depends on what issue is being discussed:
Robert Byrd was one of only 4 Democrats who voted to confirm Samuel Alito. Manchin voted to confirm Kavanaugh, but Robert Byrd was one of only a handful of Democrats who voted to confirm Kavanaugh when he was nominated for District Court judge. Manchin opposed Amy Coney Bryant and Byrd opposed Clarence Thomas.
Byrd was “progressive” on foreign policy issues and very conservative on climate issues and became better over the years on other issues.
But I believe that very conservative voters have shown a lot more patience and resolution than progressive voters and that is why they have finally got what they want instead of helping push the progressive agenda with lies about how it doesn’t matter who wins as long as the untrustworthy Republicans who secretly serve left wing masters are defeated. Our country would be in a much better place if very conservative voters had been that gullible.
The statements
There are progressive Democrats.
and
Democrats are progressive.
have different meanings.
And
Democrats are not progressive.
does not imply
Republicans are better.
They aren’t. Despite everything D77 says.
We should pay members of Congress minimum wage and see how fast they would raise it.
Not incidentally, burger flippers at fast food joints provide more value to the economy than many (if not most) members of Congress.
And than most Wall Street financial people as well.
And certainly more value than the current head of the Federal Reserve (Jerome Powell), who is dumber than a bag of rocks.
Powell is completely unqualified for his job.
Elizabeth Warren made Powell look like a total fool with her questions about Powell’s interest rate hike
Powell clearly does not understand the main drivers for the current inflation.
And also does not understand the likely repercussions of his interest rate hikes.
It’s very telling that he simply repeats cliches that one learns in econ 101: “higher interest rates moderate demand”
Powell is very reminiscent of Alan Greenspan who said absolutely nothing with his proclamations, just like Chauncey Gardiner in the movie Being There.
And not incidentally, Greenspan’s deregulation policies led directly to the financial meltdown of 2007/2008, which Greenspan referred to afterward as a “flaw” in his theory.
The fellow was a complete clown and yet many people hung on his every word (again, like the President and other leaders in Being There)
Toenail fungus and wasp larvae provide more value to the economy than do most members of Congress.
The average rent in the U.S. now is $571 dollars MORE than is a full-time minimum wage.
This is criminal. Politicians in Indiana continuously brag about how this is the best state for encouraging businesses to come. Indiana provides cheap labor.
…………
Indiana has not increased the state minimum wage since 2009 when it rose from $6.55 to $7.25 (70 cent increase).
Here are the exceptions to the Indiana minimum wage 2022:
It is mandatory for tipped employees in Indiana to be paid a minimum of $2.13 per hour, with tips making up $5.12, in total equalling the Indiana state minimum wage. Tipped employees are usually bartenders or restaurant servers in Indiana, pretty much any employment situation where you will earn tips as well as an hourly wage.
For new employees, a training wage of $4.25 per hour can be paid for the first 90 days of employment, you must be under 20 years old for this to be valid.
Full-time students can be paid at the very least 85% of the state minimum wage, this works out at $6.16 per hour. You are only eligible for this wage if you’re working 20 hours or fewer each week and classed as a full-time student.
For more information on Indiana minimum wage laws and changes, please visit the Indiana Department of Labor website.
After years of teaching economics and government…
It’s amazing to me that so many people don’t seem to understand the concept of adjusting prices for inflation. (Comparing apples with apples, so to speak.)
Sure the price of gasoline seems cheap 80 years ago when looked at in nominal dollars. But compare the price to real dollars, adjusted to inflation and….
All the standardized testing and races to the top, “reform” etc etc….. have failed on this count.
And, talk about ODD….where I live in Upstate New York the minimum wage is now $13.20 per hour, Across the river, in Pennsylvania, the minimum is $7.25. (I can stand on my front porch and see PA.)
One would think there would be a flood of workers coming over to NY State to work. But, if you don’t have a reliable car, fat chance.
There are cultural barriers, too, that have been used to divide workers in our country.
It’s about 37 miles from the Wal-Mart in Monticello, NY to the Wal-Mart in Honesdale, PA. But you might as well be talking about the distance between NYC and Wyoming. Urban vs. rural, rap vs. country.
I’ve lived in both towns and there a plenty of great people in each place. But the mutual misunderstanding is at times jaw-dropping.
It’s the 20s [the 1920s!] all over again in some ways.
Interesting, Jon. The mountains had the same effect on culture down where Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia came together
Hope you’re having a good summer, Roy. (And missing some of that intense weather out in the mid-west)
Having a good summer. As of yesterday I am enjoying being retired. Tennessee has avoided harsh flooding, but we have just broken a pretty bad drought.
Hey, congrats, Roy, on becoming among the indolent! It’s certainly a big life change! For example, the most significant decision I have to make today is whether to wear the black T-shirt or the blue one. And then I have to plan an outing to the mailbox.
“All the standardized testing and races to the top, “reform” etc etc….. have failed on this count.”
John, I’m not sure what you are getting at. Not sure how talking of nominal dollars relates to the standards and testing malpractice regime. Please explain. Thanks!
P.S. Roy lives in the South, not the Midwest. I live in the middle of the Midwest in the Show Me State. When I lived in MA I was always amused by how few New Englanders had any clue whatsoever where Missouri is. For them anything west of Ohio was the West. Americans being Americans with their pathetic knowledge of geography.
MO is a hard one for me, I don’t know why. An if you goof there, you’re likely to misplace the contiguous states. My husband laughs at this, but then he’s often traveled to that area of the country, so has a firm sense of the borders. About 10 yrs ago I got fed up with my iffy grasp on the location of a few states, made a dozen copies of an unlabeled state map, & got down to business. Nights, I switched from counting sheep to naming off states in vertical rows from west to east. I still goof occasionally on MO.
This is because the higher beings who run the simulation that is this universe, when they reboot the sim from time to time, choose to move MO around. So, it’s their fault, not yours, Ginny.
Glad I could help. And, if you have any further questions:
EPI is a great source. Thanks for forwarding this, Diane. Being 85 and from a working class family–dad was a railroader–I remember when the ’56 raise occurred. I remember the debates in Congress where the Dems led by Sen. Lyndon Johnson pushed for a larger increase, but the Republicans–who controlled the House, I believe, wanted a smaller increase–or none at all, including right-wingers who wanted to abolish it. So the smaller increase went through with Pres. Eisenhower’s approval. Later, as you show, the wage maxed in value in ’68 when Johnson was President and overseeing his “Great Society” programs. Too bad the Great Society got sidetracked when Nixon and his Republican friends schemed their way into the White House in ’69.
Minimum wage, minimum wage!!?! We don’t need no stinking minimum wage. If you are doing your job, you have nothing to worry about, said the libertarian anti-regulation, free market absolutist. Libertarians don’t give a damn about working class folks and their struggles, since the Libertarians believe in social Darwinism and a dog eat dog world.
Sorry, Joe, this is the piece I meant to post in response:
Instead of minimum wages that are different across the country state to state, the US should have a livable wage set to what it costs to live in the rural or urban area where people live and work.
Not that I disagree with anything in the post above, nor the others today, here’s some related humor. In case anyone else benefits from this type of therapy. NSFW
At least I’m happy!
At least I’m happy!!!
Oh yes.
Irrespective of Viet Nam (not taken as a small thing, believe me), but LBJ’s War on Poverty…a great act, NOT followed. (I highly recommend viewing Bryan Cranston* in HBO’s “All the Way.” & Melissa Leo is the BEST Lady Bird.)
Whoever thought the (bare) raising of the minimum (the raising TRULY minimum) wage would EVER keep up with inflation/the C.o.L.?
Just as I suspected, no one reading this. This country is a tragedy, it really is.
And even the few politicians who do argue for increasing the minimum wage never discuss tying it to inflation or having it vary according to COL.
The last having been said, some GOOD news: Red State Kansas got the voters out–thus far (& projected win), the ballot referendum to remove the constitutional right to abortion was an astounding NO!!!–63.1% to 36.1%, w/71% of the votes in. Cecile Richards, Dir. of Planned Parenthood was just on MSNBC. (Yes, she’s the late Gov. Ann Richards’ daughter.)
So wonderful!!! And this was wonderful to learn about Ms. Richards!