The debate over raising New Mexico's minimum
wage continues. Analysis by the New Mexico Fiscal Policy Project
looks at the impact an increased minimum wage will have on economic
opportunity for New Mexicans.
New Mexico has a larger portion of its
hourly work force paid the minimum wage than any other state
in the nation. About 1/8th of the workforce - 123,000 people
- would directly benefit if the state minimum wage is raised
to $7.50 per hour.
Those who benefit are adults who work full-time
The vast majority (82%) of working New Mexicans who would benefit
from an increase in the minimum wage to $7.50 are adults. Most
of those who would be affected work full time. A wage increase
would particularly benefit women and Hispanic workers.
Raising New Mexico's Minimum Wage to $7.50
Will Reduce Poverty in New Mexico - If It Increases With the
Cost of Living
Poverty is one of New Mexico's most severe problems.
Raising wages is a critical step towards ending poverty. Poverty
rates have gone down in states that have increased their minimum
wage. The hourly wage required to bring the income of a family
of three up to the federal poverty level is $7.74. Raising the
minimum wage to $7.50 in New Mexico will bring a family of three
close to - but still below - the federal poverty threshold.
The value of wage increases is lost if
wages fail to rise as the cost of living rises. About 20% of
the value of the 1997 federal minimum wage of $5.15 has been
lost due to inflation: an average annual loss of $2,142 for
a full-time minimum wage worker.
An increase to $7.50 adds almost $5,000 to
a working adult's annual income
An increase in the minimum wage to $7.50 would
put approximately $5,000 per year - about $100 per week - into
the pockets of hard-working New Mexicans . An additional $100
per week enables working people to pay for the gasoline or child
care necessary to hold a job, as well as other essentials.
New Mexico's lowest income households benefit
the most
The bottom 40% of households in New Mexico would
benefit the most from a wage increase to $7.50.
More than half the families that would benefit
from an increase in the minimum wage to $7.50 receive all of
their family earnings from family members who earn the current
minimum wage of $5.15.
