Sen. Friedman testifies in support of $15 minimum wage Billerica Minuteman

At today’s $11 minimum wage, a full-time worker working 40 hours a week with no vacation would earn just $22,880 annually. When adjusting for the cost of living, the $11 minimum wage is still worth less than the state’s minimum wage in 1968.

“This decline in purchasing power means low-wage families have to work longer hours just to achieve the standard of living that was considered the bare minimum almost half a century ago,” said Friedman. “Giving these working families a raise should not be a controversial decision.”

According to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour would benefit nearly 1 million workers statewide. Of those affected earners, less than 10 percent are teenagers, over half are women, and almost two-thirds work full time. Additionally, nearly one-third of children in the commonwealth come from a household that would see a raise in their incomes.

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