As Congress considers raising the nationās minimum wage, itās a good time to point out that itās not just for teens earning pocket money. At $7.25 an hour, the current minimum wage hasnāt been raised for three years. Proposals in both the House and Senate would increase the federal minimum wage to $9.80 by July 1, 2014.
A
report
by the Economic Policy Institute (
EPI
) points out that
87.9 percent of those affected nationally by increasing the federal minimum wage to $9.80 are 20 years of age and older. The share of those affected who are 20 or older varies by state, from a low of 77.1 percent in Massachusetts to a high of 92.4 percent in Florida (and 93.9 percent in the District of Columbia).