Poverty is a major challenge in achieving family stability

Assuring stable families is a multi-level challenge Effort is needed at all levels Personal Neighborhood Community Region State Federal Creating pathways to the middle class requires personal responsibility and government support. Putting the full responsibility on government to close the gap s in children’s lives is unreasonable. But so is ta heroic assumption that everyone can be a Horatio Alger with no help from society. “Pathways to the Middle Class.” The Social Genome Project, Center for Chidlren and Families at Brookings.

Why does poverty matter to kids? Because children who live in poverty Are more likely to have poorer health Are more likely to have chronic health conditions Are more likely to experience violence in their neighborhood Are more likely to live in inadequate housing Are more likely to be exposed to hazardous toxins Are less likely to have cognitive stimulation as young children Are less likely to have access to quality schools Are less likely to graduate Are less likely to enter and graduate from college Are less likely to have higher earnings

Let’s review what the minimum wage means for families In 2018, the Federal Poverty Level for a family of 3 is $20,780. For a family of 4, it is $25,100. A full-time minimum wage worker earns $16,328 annually. Food is estimated to cost $6,755 per year. Housing costs an estimated $9,718. These 2 basic needs account for almost an entire minimum wage salary. How do families pay for utilities, child care, transportation, clothing, medical care? The estimated wage needed to be considered a “Living wage” for a family of 3 in Missouri in 2018 is $26.96/hour, or about $56,000. Source: http://livingwage.mit.edu/states/29

How can we effectively support the economic stability of families? By raising the minimum wage Enacted in 1938 at 25 cents per hour, it has been raised 9 times to the current $7.25 (federal). It is $7.85 in Missouri. It reached its peak value in 1968, and has not kept pace with inflation, nor with increases in productivity The minimum wage is an effort to reduce inequality in wages. In 2016 it was just over one-third of the median income in the US In 1968, the minimum wage kept a typical family of 3 out of poverty. In 2018, working minimum wage full time, that family earns $16,328, less than 80 percent of the FPL

Who are minimum wage workers Who are minimum wage workers? Who would benefit if raised to $15 by 2024?

What does the current Missouri proposal do? Effective January 1, 2019, the minimum wage is raised to $8.60/hour Each year it increases by $.85 per hour until it reaches $12/hour (in 2024 If the federal minimum wage is at any time higher than the Missouri wage, Missouri’s is raised to the federal level Public employers are exempt (state, city, town, school district, or other political subdivision) Increases penalties for not paying minimum wage to twice the unpaid wages

Are you willing to get involved Are you willing to get involved? Do you have a group/staff who would benefit from learning more about raising the minimum wage? Would you be willing to participate in efforts to get out the vote to support an increase in the minimum wage in the fall? Contact Ruth Ehresman, Vision for Children at Risk rehresman@visionforchildren.org Richard Von Glahn, Missouri Jobs with Justice richard@mojwj.org