Content area
Full text
When we talk about the minimum wage in Idaho, we are literally talking about the minimum: $7.25 per hour. It’s the lowest hourly wage allowed under federal law.
That works out to a gross annual income of about $15,000 per year. Basically, it’s enough to live off of if you’re single, have an apartment well outside a city center, don’t need a car, don’t mind eating Ramen noodles several times a week and don’t have any pressing need to go to the doctor or dentist.
The bad news is that Idaho has way too many minimum wage jobs. As recently as 2013, Idaho led the nation in the percentage of its workforce earning the minimum wage. According to a 2016 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Idaho remains in the top five (percentage-wise) in workers earning the minimum wage or less, joining the likes of Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina and Kentucky. Not exactly great company. It’s high time Idaho broke away from the bottom.
It’s important to note that studies have consistently shown that modest increases to the minimum wage have little to no effect on employment. According to a 2013 report conducted by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (“CEPR”), a bump in the minimum wage increases demand...