Nebraska Deserves a Raise

October 28, 2014 Leave a comment


By John Crabtree, johnc@cfra.org, Center for Rural Affairs

At Nebraska’s current minimum wage, $7.25, which is also the federal minimum wage, a minimum wage worker putting in a full 40 hours per week for 52 weeks would earn $14,500 annually – an amount below the federal poverty line for families of two or more.

 

In 2012, 32,000 hourly workers in Nebraska earned the minimum wage, giving Nebraska the second highest percentage of workers earning at or below minimum wage compared to surrounding states. Had Nebraska’s minimum wage kept pace with inflation over the last 4 decades it would now be $10.56 per hour and full-time minimum wage workers would now earn $21,120 annually, not $14,500.

 

Moreover, increasingly minimum wage workers are adults and the major wage earners in families. Currently, 88 percent of America’s minimum wage workers are over the age of 20. Minimum wage workers are our friends, neighbors and family members. And they deserve a raise.
On Tuesday, November 4th, Nebraskans will cast the final votes in the 2014 election. The board and staff of the Center for Rural Affairs urge all Nebraskans, urban and rural alike, to cast their votes in favor of I-425, Nebraska ballot initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage. I urge you to remember the faces of friends and neighbors around you who work for minimum wage, and cast your vote in favor of giving them the raise that they deserve.

Filed under Community Tagged with ,

Social Speaks: Minimum Wage

April 4, 2014 1 Comment


In March, Nebraska lawmakers voted against raising the minimum wage. What do you think of this decision? Should the minimum wage be raised?
  • Kathy Peterson Not even sure what it is …but if it would be incentive to get more able bodied people off the system and working…then YES!
  • Kay Marie Throener Yes but then everything else would probablyly go up with it too. So would it make a difference?
  • Joel Fredrickson maybe just a little. gotta remember when wages go up prices follow. were gonna be paying $20 for a burger at McDonalds soon enough
  • Kathy Peterson If they would raise the ceiling a bit, and actually enforce the guidelines for welfare…and make them live off of reasonable means rather than making it more comfortable NOT to work…there would be more REAL money going into the market place…..whether they raise the minimum wage or not does not have that much impact on pricing…they would use it as an excuse but pricing actually stems from greed in many cases and the fact that so many people are not willing to put their foot down and say enough…many…not all of the fast food places are already out of whack because people just keep paying the outrageous prices…..and I am using fast food as an example just because it was mentioned….there are a few that you definitely get your moneys worth from and subway is one of those because it is a generous amount of HEALTHY food…one of the few I eat at for the most part because of that wonderful combination…..you can look at the price of beef and pork and know that the farmers are not getting the profit on that…the same with milk……the greed is happening between production and retail………
  • Joel Fredrickson yea….what she^ said
  • Abby Simonsen If they raise minimum then everyone should have to bump up too. Just sayin’ 
  • Monica Potter I agree with Kathy. Fine and dandy for the severely handicapped but some people take advantage of this as well as no taxes for families with 6 or more kids. If parents want to stay on welfare then food stamps should be a low costs. 
  • Kathy Peterson Raising minimum wage probably needs to be done..but there are other factors that need to be taken into account and maybe they did not pass it because they have to deal with some of these other issues first…….they have to have a plan….and maybe they just don’t have an acceptable one in place yet……
  • Ann Anderson as a small business owner that would break us…and then we would have MORE unemployed people.
  • Kathy Peterson And that is the catch 22 of it all almost every tax will hit the small business owner before it affects anyone else……we are at the bottom of the pile when it comes to any perks from any seaport…at this point I do not have to pay employees…but you never know what the future is going to bring….

Filed under Opinion Tagged with ,