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Amendment 2Talking pointsAmendment 2 would raise the minimum wage in Florida to $15 over six years. Twenty-seven states have raised their minimum wage since 2014.We are often regaled with accounts of job growth. But what we’re not told is whether or not these jobs offer a living wage.In Florida, one in 8 residents receive food stamps (SNAP), and 42% of those are in working families. AAUW of Florida recently commissioned special studies on women's economic security, concentrating on retired women, Hispanic women, and Black women. These studies use special estimates of living expenses that are customized for different areas of the country and various family types, called Basic Economic Security Tables (BEST). Not surprisingly, the studies found that large numbers of these women are not economically secure.For example, let's take a single mother who has one preschooler and one child in school, working at a job without employment based benefits. Our studies found that women of color tend to be concentrated in such occupations.According to the BEST tables, she needs $60,420 per year for basic economic security, which includes only the basics of living plus a little retirement savings and emergency savings. It does not include luxuries or Internet service, which is almost a necessity today especially for that child in school. To earn that much money, she would need almost $30 per hour in wages.How is such a woman surviving on today's minimum wage of $8.56 per hour? Our sponsored research does not answer this question, but food stamps, relying on friends and family, a second job, and skimping on some of the items such as savings probably play a role. A wage of $15 per hour might enable her to do less skimping, improving the health and security of her family.A minimum wage of $15 per hour would enable a single worker to come very close to economic security. If she has an infant child, she needs about $51,000 per year or $24 per hour.Who are the minimum wage workers? Fivethirtyeight found that “Nearly a quarter of the 3.2 million minimum-wage workers in 2014 were over 40, half were 25 or older, up from about 40 percent two decades earlier.” The article noted that it is getting harder to move up the ladder from minimum wage jobs, with 30% of minimum wage hires age 25 or older still at minimum wage a year later. Gatta, in her book All I Want is a Job, traces the history of public assistance to suggest why people get stuck in low-wage work. In the 1990s, public assistance policy became focused on getting people off welfare as quickly as possible. Thus they were placed in any job that might be available, and training assistance became harder to get. That mother with the two children has neither the time, money nor energy to engage in the training necessary to move up the employment ladder.The claim that an increase in the minimum wage would result in fewer workers being hired is an opinion not based on fact. There is a considerable body of economic research that suggests that is not the case. This website lists 43 studies from 1992 to 2016 that show no adverse employment impact from minimum wage increases: industry is different, but there are many ways in which an employer can adjust costs to compensate for higher labor costs. One of the main benefits is that a better wage decreases employee turnover. Check out the myths and facts about minimum wage increases at is one brief (226 word) letter using some of the above talking points:Amendment 2 would raise the minimum wage in Florida to $15 over six years. Twenty-seven states have raised their minimum wage since 2014. AAUW of Florida recently commissioned special studies on women's economic security, concentrating on retired women, Hispanic women, and Black women. These studies use estimates of living expenses that are customized for different areas of the country and various family types, called Basic Economic Security Tables (BEST). Some retirement and emergency savings for working people are included, which prevent poverty in retired people. Not surprisingly, the studies found that large numbers of these women are not economically secure.A single mother with one preschooler and one child in school, working at a job without employment based benefits, needs $60,420 per year. Our studies found that women of color tend to be concentrated in such occupations. The BEST index does not include luxuries or Internet service, which is almost a necessity today especially for that child in school. The current minimum wage gives her only $17,800 per year.How is such a woman surviving on today's minimum wage of $8.56 per hour? Food stamps, relying on friends and family, a second job, and skimping on some of the items such as savings probably play a role. A wage of $15 per hour might enable her to do less skimping, improving the health and security of her family. ................
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