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Raising the N.J. minimum wage is a win-win

Thursday, 23 February 2012 12:26
dollar101011_optBY JON WHITEN
COMMENTARY

New Jersey Policy Perspective president Deborah Howlett is testifying before the Assembly Labor Committee this morning in favor of A-2162, legislation sponsored by Speaker Oliver and others that would increase New Jersey’s minimum wage to $8.50 an hour and to index that wage to the rate of inflation.

"This legislation is one of the most important actions elected officials in Trenton can take to immediately improve the lives of tens of thousands of working families struggling to make ends meet in New Jersey and at the same time improve the state’s economy for every other resident," Howlett says in her prepared remarks.

Below is a key excerpt from her testimony:

"In a state with one of the highest median incomes in the nation and one of the highest costs of living, those at the bottom of the wage scale often find it a struggle to raise their families here. The increase may be only $1.25 an hour, but it could mean the difference in families paying a utility bill in full or buying new school clothes for their children.

In addition to being a boon to working families, the increase in the minimum wage is strategic legislation that will help boost the economy, too.

An increase in the minimum wage will provide working families with greater purchasing power, which will immediately be reinvested in the economy as consumer spending because working families don’t have the luxury of tucking away any new income.

The impact can can be significant. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, every $1 in wage increase for a minimum wage worker results in $3,500 in new consumer spending by his or her household over the following year."

Jon Whiten is the Communications and Technology Director at NJPP.

ALSO BY JON WHITEN

Raising the minimum wage in N.J. makes sense

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