2023: A Raise & Paid Leave for NC
Currently, 30 states and Washington, D.C., have raised their minimum wages. Meanwhile, North Carolina workers have been stuck with a wage floor of $7.25 an hour and a $2.13 tipped hourly wage since 2008. As the cost of living continues to rise, these wages are not enough to afford basic necessities; the 2022 Living Income Standard for a household with one adult and one child is $24.25 an hour. NC Up Minimum Wages/No Subminimum or Exemptions (House Bill 620/Senate Bill 447) phases in a $ 15-an-hour minimum wage over a span of a few years, while phasing out the tipped minimum and eliminating exemptions for disabled and incarcerated workers.
Why wages? Why Now?
01.
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Nearly 1 in 3 workers in NC earn a wage below the federal poverty line - the second worst in the nation.
02.
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In North Carolina, more than half of working Black and Latino people would benefit from raising the wage to $15.
03.
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According to the 2021 Living Income Standard, an average family with 2 adults & 2 kids need $16.75/hr per working parent to afford the basics.
04.
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More than half of the jobs created since the late 2000s pay poverty wages.