Department of Labor & Industry Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier called for an increase to Pennsylvania’s outdated minimum wage to $12 an hour, with a pathway to $15 by 2027. This increase, she said, would be the first since 2009. It would benefit working families and local economies and boost the incomes of more than 1.1 million Pennsylvania workers.
“Over the past decade, prices for food, housing, education, childcare and other critical needs have increased significantly while the minimum wage earned by Pennsylvanians has remained stagnant,” said Berrier. “While every state surrounding us has recognized this loss of purchasing power and increased their minimum wage, we have continued to fall further behind.
“Now, many Pennsylvanians are facing job loss and have no savings because they were working jobs that paid too little to allow them to set aside money for emergencies. We cannot let this crisis continue. We need to raise our minimum wage now and allow hardworking Pennsylvanians the dignity of providing for themselves.”
Raising the wage to $12 an hour would inject an additional $116.4 million into Pennsylvania’s economy. An increase to $15 would bolster Pennsylvania’s economy by $320.6 million in 2027.
Findings from the Keystone Research Center show the workers who would benefit from a $15 minimum wage include:
– 76 percent age 20 or older – 850,657 workers
– 27 percent age 40 or older – 299,715 workers
– 13 percent age 55 or older – 154,730 workers
– 38 percent age 55 or older – 154,730 workers
– 38 percent working full-time – 426,966 workers
– 62 percent women – 691,122 workers
The commonwealth’s outdated minimum wage is $7.25, the lowest allowed by federal law. By trailing neighboring states, Pennsylvania workers earn less for the same work than all surrounding states.
