Business

Minimum wage value falling but fairness is debated

By Alan Fram
Published March 31, 2014 3:20pm ET
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Minimum wage value falling but fairness is debated
FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2014 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks about raising the minimum wage during a visit to a Costco store in Lanham, Md. "Give America a raise!" President Barack Obama implored Congress in his State of the Union address. But it would cost jobs, Republicans warned. The political divide over raising the federal minimum wage is deep, driven by politics, ideology and demographics. Democrats, it turns out, represent more poor and low-wage workers than Republicans do. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) | Charles Dharapak

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal minimum wage has been below what’s needed to keep a family of three out of poverty since 1980. It’s also well shy of the peak of its buying power almost half a century ago.

Is the current $7.25 hourly minimum fair? Is now the time to raise it, and if so, by how much?

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Labor Minimum Wage