Raising the Minimum Wage So NC Families Can Afford the Basics

North Carolina needs to create jobs that pay workers enough to afford the basics for themselves and their families so that everyone can prosper in our state.

Background
North Carolina needs an economy that works for all and ensures broadly shared prosperity. That means creating jobs that pay workers enough to afford the basics for themselves and their families —enough to buy groceries, pay the rent, put gas in the car, and keep their children in day care.

Unfortunately, the jobs that paid decent wages are largely vanishing, as low-wage service jobs replace the manufacturing positions that once provided generations of North Carolinians with vital pathways to the middle class. This trend hasonly accelerated since the end of the Great Recession.

Raising the minimum wage in North Carolina provides a critical antidote to the ongoing boom in low -wage work. The state’s current minimum wage is the same as the nation’s—$7.25 an hour. But 29 other states have raised their wage above the national floor, including conservative states like Nebraska, Arkansas, South Dakota, and Missouri. North Carolina has the opportunity to join this movement.