Millions of low-wage earners are getting a raise in 2025 as 21 states are slated to hike their minimum pay starting Jan. 1.
State laws that index the minimum wage to inflation are behind 13 of the January increases, according to the Economic Policy Institute, or EPI, a nonprofit think tank. Legislation spurred the coming pay hikes in six states, while ballot measures ushered in wage gains in two.
Nearly one in five, or 20%, of the more than 9.2 million impacted workers reside in households below the poverty line, while nearly half, or almost 49%, have family incomes below twice the poverty line, EPI estimates.
Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour hasn’t budged since 2009, and it remains the law in 20 states. Since then time, that base rate has lost 30% of its purchasing power due to inflation, according to Sebastian Martinez Hickey, a state economic analyst at EPI.
“The truth is the number of workers that earn $7.25 per hour is quite low, but that still means with inaction we are leaving tens of millions of workers out to dry,” Martinez Hickey told CBS MoneyWatch.