What would an increase in the federal minimum wage mean?
– To those 6.5 million workers earning $5.15 an hour, more than half of whom are adults over 25, it would mean more money to support their families and pay their bills. But financial experts say the increase wouldn’t go far and is not a solution to poverty. by Ellen Simon Link to Article Two months into her minimum wage job at Target, Tara Dennis, 23, realized she and her three children would be better off if she was unemployed and on food stamps. So she quit. “As a single mom, minimum wage isn’t going to get me ahead. It’s not even going to get me caught up,” said Dennis, who lives in Missoula, Mont. A proposed hike that would bring the federal minimum wage to $7.25 would give workers like Dennis their first raise since the minimum increased to $5.15 in 1997. But some low-income workers and their advocates say the wage increase won’t affect many workers and is not a way out of poverty for minimum wage workers. Since the last hike, wages for most of the lowest-paid workers have risen a
