Report: Women Would Disproportionately Benefit from a Minimum Wage Hike

From the Economic Policy Institute (http://www.epi.org/):

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to enable the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would ban sex-based discrimination in our Constitution. Discrimination based on sex takes many forms―and one of the most obvious is the gender pay gap.

Women would disproportionately benefit from a minimum wage hike; and women make up the bulk of tipped workers.

Take a look at EPI’s chart below that shines a spotlight on how women make up the bulk of the low-wage workforce―making the case of how raising the minimum wage will disproportionately raise the wages of women.

We have an opportunity to change this chronic situation. The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 would help eliminate poverty-level wages by gradually raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025. This raise is long overdue and would deliver broad benefits to millions of women as well as Black and Latinx workers.

The average age of workers who would see a pay increase under the Raise the Wage Act is 35 years old. Nearly 6 of 10 workers (59%), who would benefit are women—even though men make up the majority of the workforce.

Past research also shows minimum wage workers are often the primary earners for their families.

During Women’s History Month, we must push Congress to raise the wages of 32 million workers by passing a $15 minimum wage, a move that would go a long way in leveling the economic playing field for women.