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Assiduous families in our state are drowning. Families should never have to choose between buying healthy food and paying their utility bills, but they do. Children should focus on their work rather than on their stomachs during their schooling, but they can not help it when their hard-working parents can only offer them one meal a day. Workers should not have to buy payday loans for exorbitant fees in order to buy supplies for their children's back to school. I've heard too many devastating stories about the challenges facing minimum wage workers in New Mexico, and I think the new hardworking Mexicans deserve better.
An increase in the minimum wage has been long overdue – it has not been raised in nearly a decade. As prices rise, purchasing power erodes and families find themselves in a desperate situation. Our minimum wage of $ 7.50 is worth $ 6.30. Economic insecurity is ubiquitous in our state. In fact, 31% of workers earning an hourly wage in New Mexico earn low wages, less than $ 12 an hour.
Nearly a quarter of a million low-wage workers are trying not only to stay afloat to pay for basic living expenses, but they are trying to stay afloat with the added weight of other challenges that may accompany economic security, including lack of health care. , toxic stress, dangerous neighborhoods and food and employment insecurity. When workers and families suffer, local economies suffer. For our state to be a nurturing and attractive environment where children and businesses can flourish, families need to be economically secure to invest in their future.
My recent report, "New Mexicans Are Better: Increasing the State's Minimum Wage," highlights the effects of the gradual increase in the state minimum wage to $ 12 by 2022, protecting workers by banning training salaries and even higher minimum wages. If the legislature adopts such a proposal, $ 204.8 million a year would be added to the pay checks of new Mexican workers. This achievable policy reform will reduce poverty in the state and give low-wage workers a few extra dollars to support themselves and their families.
Most (65%) workers who would benefit are over 25 years old. About half of the state's low-wage workers are Hispanic. Women work disproportionately in low-paid occupations and these women, who can work as caregivers or early childhood educators, will benefit greatly from a salary increase.
Local economies will also benefit. Minimum wage increases help small businesses: Several studies point out that in rural and urban communities, wage increases improve employment. Research shows that when employees receive higher wages, they are more productive. Increases in the minimum wage are also related to high morale, decreased absenteeism and decreased lost sales. And when families and individuals earn more, they can spend more money on local businesses, resulting in higher tax revenues. Research shows that this impact is particularly evident in rural economies, where consumer demand is often lower.
Workers in New Mexico are resilient fighters. They have worked tirelessly to keep the water running for years while watching countless neighboring states raise their minimum wages to better protect workers and improve economies. There is no better time to help members of our community plant their feet on the ground so that they can support the people and places that matter to them deeply.
It is time for the Legislature to fight for low-wage workers, just as these low-wage workers are fighting for a bright future for their families. Let's show the new Mexicans that they are worth more than $ 7.50 by raising the state minimum wage to $ 12 by 2022, then continuing the fight until the minimum wage becomes a minimum wage vital.
Sarah Hyde is a Research and Policy Analyst at New Mexico Voices for Children.
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