Voicing Our Values—To Raise the Minimum Wage
This resource is intended to help lawmakers, candidates and activists understand how to argue in favor of raising the minimum wage. It’s an addendum to our book, Voicing Our Values: A Message Guide for Candidates, and as we explain here, we have tried to make this resource as easy-to-use as possible by placing model language in boxes throughout. We encourage you to adapt the language to your own voice and personalize it with your own knowledge and experience. Much more detailed talking points are available at RaiseTheMinimumWage.com and from other experts listed at the end of this paper.
For a PDF copy of Voicing Our Values—To Raise the Minimum Wage, click here.
The minimum wage is popular even without careful framing. Americans have a pretty good grasp of the issue and public support is overwhelming. A new Pew Research Center/USA Today poll found that Americans support raising the minimum wage to $9/hour by a margin of 71 to 26 percent. Independents favor it 68 to 28. Further, as Lake Research has found, voters just as strongly favor a $10/hour minimum and opposing arguments aren't very effective. Every progressive should embrace this issue!
As we explain here, when you argue for any policy that has individual beneficiaries, you should aim to persuade voters either that (1) they, their families or friends are included among those who benefit; or (2) the people receiving the benefits are deserving. In the case of minimum wage, make both arguments.
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America is supposed to be a land of opportunity, where hard work is rewarded. But today’s minimum wage is not enough for a family to make ends meet. Raising the minimum wage puts money in the pockets of hard-working Americans who will spend it on the things they need. This, in turn, generates business for our economy and eases the burden on taxpayers. It’s a win-win. Raising the minimum wage helps build an economy that works for everyone, not just the richest one percent. |
Why . . .
Many progressive advocates want to start with facts and figures. Don’t. On this issue, most Americans are already on our side so take this opportunity to show how the policy they already understand and favor is based on your progressive values.
Here are the key arguments—an increased minimum wage:
- Rewards work—raising the minimum wage shows that we value hard work over ”welfare;”
- Moves the economy forward—the public already believes this, so say it loudly;
- Saves taxpayer money—if families have more money, it diminishes the need for government benefits; and
- Promotes fundamental fairness—people remain quite angry about CEO pay and the unfairness that pervades today’s economy.
Experts at Topos Partnership wrote a great column about the language President Obama used in the State of the Union address to describe his minimum wage proposal. In his words:
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We know our economy is stronger when we reward an honest day’s work with honest wages... For businesses across the country, [a higher minimum wage] would mean customers with more money in their pockets. And a whole lot of folks out there would probably need less help from government. In fact, working folks shouldn’t have to wait year after year for the minimum wage to go up while CEO pay has never been higher. |
Why . . .
Does it feel like these monologues aren’t talking enough about poverty? Let’s let Topos Partnership answer that one:
[T]here are risks to framing the wages and benefits conversation narrowly as a poverty-alleviation strategy. The reality is that people are working and poor, but images of poverty (and framing the wage issue as a charitable solution to poverty) continue to cause people to default to stereotypes of long-term unemployed “looking for a handout.” For this reason, it’s particularly critical for advocates to continue the framing of minimum wage as good for the entire economy, or “all of us.”
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Help the poor The working poor |
An economy that works for all of us An honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work |
Why . . .
By all means you can say, as President Obama did in his State of the Union address, that “in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.”
And it would be hard to testify on the minimum wage before a legislative committee without mentioning the federal poverty level. But when you’re talking to average voters, avoid referring to beneficiaries in ways that evoke a “welfare” frame. These monologues show how you can.
Right-wing argument: The free market takes care of wages.
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Minimum wage workers earn less than $300 a week. No matter where you live, that's just not enough money to make ends meet. This is about people who show up every day and work hard so their company can make a profit. At the very least, they deserve to be able to pay their bills. |
Why . . .
An individual who works full-time at the current $7.25/hour federal minimum wage earns $14,500 a year (for 50 weeks)—$1,010 below the 2013 poverty line for a family of two, $5,030 below the poverty line for a family of three, and $9,050 below the poverty line for a family of four. Over time, the value of the minimum wage has plummeted due to inflation and federal inaction. Congress last acted on the minimum wage in 2007 and the last adjustment took effect in 2009. The minimum wage in 1968, if adjusted for inflation, would be $10.56 today. So raising the minimum wage to $9 or $10 would be modest by historical standards.
Right-wing argument: The minimum wage affects only a tiny percentage of workers.
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Actually, an increase to $9 an hour would improve pay for about one in four private sector workers in the United States. And it would benefit everyone else by putting money back into local businesses and getting our economy moving again. |
Why . . .
A $9/hour minimum wage would directly boost the wages of about 15 million workers. In addition, because of a “spillover effect”—that increasing everyone below $9/hour will indirectly boost the pay of those who earn between $9 and $10/hour—the minimum wage increase would benefit millions more, about one-in-four private sector workers. These are the very Americans who have been hit hardest by the economic downturn and need help the most.
Right-wing argument: Raising the minimum wage will cost jobs.
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Numerous studies show that a modest increase in the minimum wage will not cause employers to eliminate jobs. Instead, it will increase consumer demand, which will create more jobs. Hard-working Americans will have a little more money to spend and local businesses will benefit from it. It's a win-win for everybody. |
Why . . .
Here is a hyperlink to the numerous studies. Americans know that raising the minimum wage will help the economy. And they are right. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, every one dollar in wage increase for a minimum wage worker results in $3,500 in new consumer spending by his or her household over the following year.
Right-wing argument: Minimum wage workers are mostly teenagers anyway.
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More than 84 percent of those who would benefit are older workers. Less than 16 percent are teenagers. But the point is, anyone who works hard every day deserves to make a living. |
Why . . .
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, three quarters of minimum wage earners are 20 or older. But because an increase will affect millions of other workers who currently make between $7.25 and $10/hour, more than 84 percent of the beneficiaries would be 20 or older.
Right-wing argument: My state has its own minimum wage, so we're okay.
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Only 19 states have a minimum wage higher than the federal rate, and even they are not nearly sufficient. President Obama has proposed $9 an hour and only one state meets that standard. A minimum wage increase to $9 or $10 tells workers we value their hard work, it improves the economy, it helps reduce government spending—and it's the right thing to do. |
Why . . .
Nineteen states (AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, IL, ME, MA, MI, MO, MT, NV, NM, OH, OR, RI, VT, WA) and the District of Columbia have a minimum wage greater than $7.25/hour. But only six states (CT, IL, NV, OR, VT, WA) have a minimum over $8, and only one state (WA) exceeds $9.
Finally, keep in mind that your minimum wage argument should be just one part of a larger overall message:
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Our economy is a wreck. To fix it, our policies must benefit all the people, not just the richest one percent. Our system works when everyone gets a fair shot, everyone gives their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules. Too many people are trying to rig the system to benefit the rich over the rest of us. My policies would ensure that every American who works hard and plays by the rules has the opportunity to live the American Dream. |
Why . . .
For much more discussion of how to talk about the economy and government programs, see our book, Voicing Our Values: A Message Guide for Candidates, which is available at www.progressivemajorityaction.org.
Sources for more detailed talking points
- Raise the Minimum Wage and its sponsor the National Employment Law Project
- Economic Policy Institute
- Center for American Progress
- Business for a Fair Minimum Wage
- Center for Economic and Policy Research
