CNN - The minimum wage is set to rise in 21 states, at least 22 cities, four counties and one region. The majority of those increases will take place on Jan. 1, but in Maryland, Oregon and Washington, D.C., they go into effect in July. Meanwhile, the state of New York will be bumping up minimum pay on New Year's Eve of this year.
The biggest minimum wage raises, percentage wise, will be in Arizona (up 24% to $10), Maine (up 20% to $9) and three Silicon Valley cities (up 20% to $12).
In the absence of action from Congress in terms of raising the federal minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 since 2009, states and localities have taken matters into their own hands.
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All of those amounts still fall way short of establishing a minimum wage parity with that of the late 1960's. Over these past four and a half decades, the real value of the minimum wage has been incrementally shrinking despite upward changes in its nominal value. In short, the minimum has dramatically failed to keep pace with inflation. Had it done so, the current nominal value of a minimum wage providing comparable buying power to that of the late 1960's would have to be in the mid twenty dollar range---$25-$26.
What has actually occurred, instead, has been an insidious process of accumulated wage theft as compensation fails to proportionately match the increases in costs of goods and services.
This has been understood for quite some time by advocates of restoring a 'living wage'. Bernie Sanders, prior to becoming presidential candidate Sanders had been a vocal champion calling for a 'living wage'. Interestingly enough, however, as a presidential candidate he modified his position to align with that of the Democratic Party's State Innovation Exchange (SiX) compromised surrender to business, $15 an hour. Sanders did not press Hillary Clinton on this, despite her seeming insistence on a measly $12 an hour standard.
Though any improvement will be welcome, these increases will hardly provide much in the way of a respite.
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