President Obama on Saturday pressed Congress to increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, saying that doing so would help millions of Americans rise above poverty and spur economic growth.
“Ask yourself: could you live on $14,500 a year? That’s what someone working full-time on the minimum wage makes,” the president said. “If they’re raising kids, that’s below the poverty line. And that’s not right. A hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.”
Congress last raised the $7.25 hourly minimum wage seven years ago.
Obama said a minimum wage hike of $2.85 would benefit 28 million low-wage workers, most of whom are women.
“That extra money would help them pay the bills and provide for their families,” he said. “It also means they’ll have more money to spend at local businesses — which grows the economy for everyone.”
The president chastised congressional Republicans for blocking efforts to raise the minimum wage. Because of inaction on Capitol Hill, he said, 13 states, 21 cities and the District of Columbia recently “have gone around Congress” to raise their workers’ wages. And five more states have minimum wage initiatives on the ballot next month.
The president touted a coalition of business leaders, labor unions, parents and more than 65 mayors that on Friday asked Congress to raise the minimum wage.
“Nobody who works full-time should ever have to raise a family in poverty. And I’m going to keep up this fight until we win,” he said. “America deserves a raise right now. And America should forever be a place where your hard work is rewarded.”
The president also praised the business community for adding jobs that helped lower the national unemployment rate to below 6 percent last month for the first time in more than six years.
“Over the past four and a half years, our businesses have created more than 10 million new jobs,” he said. “That’s the longest uninterrupted stretch of private sector job creation in our history.”
