4 Progressive Policies that Make Families Stronger
States with conservative policy agendas fare worse on a range of family-related indicators than states with progressive policy agendas.
Minimum Wage
The Center for American Progress has long worked to build the policy case for raising the minimum wage and eliminating the subminimum wage for people with disabilities and tipped workers. The following research and analyses demonstrate how people deserve to be paid fairly for their work and how a higher minimum wage would—rather than limit job growth—provide financial stability for families and boost overall economic growth.
Infographic: How Could Boosting Wages Reduce Crime?
Raising the minimum wage and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit would not only boost income for struggling workers but also save American communities billions of dollars each year by reducing crime.
EITC Expansion for Childless Workers Would Save Billions—and Take a Bite Out of Crime
Boosting the Earned Income Tax Credit for workers without dependent children would result in a societal benefit of $1.7 billion to $3.3 billion each year from reduced crime and enhanced public safety alone.
The Fight for $15
When some 200 New York City fast food workers walked off their jobs in November 2012 to demand a $15 minimum wage and a union, no one could have predicted that the one-day strike would spark a national movement. But when workers won a $15 minimum wage in SeaTac, Washington, in 2013, and then soon after in Seattle, the movement seemed to capture the public imagination. Less than four years since it began, the Fight for $15 movement has not only united low-wage workers across the country in a call for better wages and a voice on the job, but also pushed policymakers across the country to raise state and local minimum wage laws.
Center for American Progress, 1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC , 20005
A Blueprint for Cutting Poverty and Expanding Opportunity in America
House Republicans must embrace these policies if they are serious about tackling poverty and paving pathways to the middle class.
Infographic: Raising the Minimum Wage Would Have the Greatest Impact on Working Women
The workers who stand to benefit from an increase in the minimum wage are mostly women—and these women are likely to be working mothers over age 25.
The Murray-Scott Minimum-Wage Bill: A Win-Win for Working Families and Taxpayers
In addition to giving working families a long-overdue raise, the new bill will save taxpayers an estimated $5.3 billion per year on SNAP when fully implemented.
Expanding Opportunity in America’s Urban Areas
Our nation's urban centers are the engines of the U.S. economy, and in recent years, more Americans are moving to these communities. Despite the growing popularity of living in urban areas, these communities face a number of ongoing challenges, from housing and transportation to education and workforce accessibility.
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A Win-Win for Working Families and State Budgets
Increasing the minimum wage in concert with expanding Medicaid would not only boost the incomes of low-wage working families and increase access to healthcare but would also be a boon to state budgets.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on How American Cities Can Lead the Fight to Raise the Wage
Seattle struck a giant blow against inequality this year when—after months of consensus building by business, labor, and community leaders —it put its minimum wage on course to hit $15 in 2019. This came only a few weeks after 41 Republicans in the U.S. Senate refused to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10, a figure below its real 1968 value. What can Seattle’s minimum-wage victory teach other cities and Washington, D.C., about inequality, job growth, and the middle class?
The Center for American Progress will host Seattle Mayor Ed Murray (D), who will deliver keynote remarks on how Seattle passed its $15 minimum wage and how it can serve as a blueprint for other cities trying tackle inequality while kick starting job growth. A panel discussion of experts will follow, focusing on how local minimum-wage increases strengthen the middle class and local economies.
Center for American Progress, 1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC , 20005
Working and Still Poor
When you try living on $77 a week for food, transportation, and entertainment—the budget of a minimum-wage worker—spending on things that many take for granted requires tough choices and carries significant consequences.
Left Behind
Five years after the end of the Great Recession, Millennials still face high barriers to entering the U.S. middle class. For LGBT Millennials, these barriers to full participation in the U.S. economy can be exacerbated by their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
The Benefits of Increasing the Minimum Wage for People of Color
If the minimum wage were increased to $10.10 per hour, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians would see an increase in total wages of $16.1 billion.
6 Surprising Facts About the Minimum Wage
The federal minimum wage has not been raised in more than five years. Here are six facts explaining why Congress needs to raise it to $10.10 an hour.
How to Reduce Poverty and Save Taxpayers $4.6 Billion Per Year
Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour will cut spending on federal assistance programs and strengthen families, the economy, and our nation.