Are My Wages Increasing? Minimum Wage Increases Coming in 2021
- Author: Mary Singleton
- Posted: 2024-09-23
As 2020 finally dies and morphs into 2021, a slew of new changes is occurring for the rest of the world. These changes cover many areas, but one important one is the minimum wage. As the clock strikes midnight, the minimum wage will increase in a massive twenty states.
Where and How Much
The twenty states that are raising the minimum wage have almost nothing in common. First, the states themselves: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington.Â
The amount of the increase itself varies. In some states, it's barely anything, such as Florida, where the minimum wage is increasing from $8.56 to $8.65. This increase comes as a result of a small cost of living increase but also occurs in the shadow of the passage of Amendment 2, which will begin the process of raising Florida's minimum wage to $15 an hour over a multi-year period.Â
In other states, the increase is much larger, and often part of an overall effort to raise the minimum wage to an even higher target, like $15 an hour. Such is the case in places like Arkansas, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and New Mexico, which are all seeing their minimum wage increase by a full $1. California's minimum wage is the highest of this group, reaching a height of $14 an hour.
What Do These States Have In Common?
These twenty states vary wildly. They have different political backgrounds, are from different regions, have different issues in terms of the gap between the richest and poorest, and more. However, all twenty of these states have at least one thing the same: None of them had minimum wages that are currently as low as the federal government allows, which is $7.25 an hour, an amount that has not increased since the mid-2000s. Indeed, efforts to reach the minimum wage at the federal government have been routinely stimmed since that time.Â
As noted above, many of these states saw these increases as part of a multi-year increase, or because they already had a cost of living increase that raises the minimum wage with inflation. Others that saw additional increases often occurred in more liberal-leaning states, although there were exceptions to this, such as with Florida.Â
Many states remain tied to the federal minimum wage. These include Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Unlike the above list, almost all of these states have one thing in common: With the exception of Virginia, virtually all of these states are exclusively or partially Republican-controlled. Republicans tend to oppose minimum wage increases, while Democrats tend to favor them. Thus, if a state has a strong Democratic presence, it is more likely than otherwise to have an increase in the minimum wage.
What's Next for the Minimum Wage?
It seems clear that 2021 will bring more changes for the minimum wage. However, it is also extremely likely that the gap between the states that have higher minimum wages and states that have not increased their minimum wage will continue to widen. Typically, Democratic Governors make efforts to increase the minimum wage in the face of strong opposition from their Republican legislature. Compromises can sometimes be reached, but more often than not, this is not the case.
Such is the example in Pennsylvania. Governor Tom Wolf, a Democratic, has sought to increase the minimum wage every year. However, every year, the Governor has run into strong opposition from the Republican-controlled legislature, and thus far, he has been unsuccessful in increasing the minimum wage. An increase of the federal minimum wage would abrogate the need for state action, but that does not appear likely in the immediate future.Â
The one wild card in this conversation is the aftermath of COVID-19. With the arrival of two vaccines, it appears that the United States will begin to recover from the devastating pandemic. However, it is unknown if the pandemic will increase pressure on policy-makers to raise the minimum wage, or if it will give additional ammunition to those who oppose increasing the minimum wage, citing potential harm to businesses.
