John Kerry's position on

Minimum Wage: Congress is currently considering raising the minimum wage by $1.50, from $5.15 to $6.65 per hour in three installments. The fair Minimum Wage Act of 2004 would increase that to $7.00 per hour. Congress last enacted legislation in 1996, increasing the minimum wage by 90 cents from 1996-1997. link

Description of candidate's position: John Kerry supports increasing the minimum wage to $7.00 by 2007. Minimum wage must be indexed for inflation to keep low-income workers from falling even further behind; if the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation since 1968, when it was a $1.60 an hour, it would have reached $8.46 an hour in 2003. Kerry contends this will be beneficial not only for the workers, but also will force corporations to be more accountable to how much they pay ALL workers, including CEO's

Quotation from the candidate: "I'm running for President to build a stronger economy that lifts up families and expands opportunity for hardworking Americans," Kerry said. "It's time to remember a basic truth: a stronger America begins right here at home. Today, there are workers &endash; many of them working women - struggling to get by on the minimum wage. That's wrong. We can do better. And together, we're going to change it." link

Assessment of the proposal:

Positive: Research from the Economic Policy Institute indicates that increasing the minimum wage now would help support 11.9 million working families, alleviate imbalance due to inflation, and would help boost the economy because people spend more when they have money.  

Negative: The National Center for Policy Analysis asserts that an increase is not necessary because the lowest wage earners are teenagers, not primary earners. Also, 40% of adults with low paying jobs lack the skills necessary to perform even basic jobs, and so focusing on wages misdirects the attention from education.

Comparison: There are two main differences between the GOP and Democratic plans. The GOP would like to allow states to opt out of the minimum wage increases, and would also phase in the minimum wage in three installments. The Democrats, on the other hand, would require states to comply with the mandate, and would use two installments to make the increase. After 2006, inflation will have eroded any benefit from an increase, which is why the GOP wants to take longer to implement the increases. link

Link to Bush's issue page