Kentucky rounds out the top ten states that would benefit most from a higher minimum wage according to a new report from a non-profit that works to fight poverty and injustice.
Oxfam America finds 372,000 Kentuckians, more than 22 percent of the working population, would benefit from a $10.10 minimum wage.
The non-profit’s President Richard Offenheimer said he’s seen poverty all over the world, but issues in America have piqued his interest.
“What has been most striking to me of late has been the increase of poverty and economic inequality here at home,” he said. “The reality is that today millions of hardworking Americans are falling further and further behind. Tens of millions in our own country do arduous work in jobs that pay under ten dollars an hour and rarely offer benefits, even a single day of sick leave. For them the American Dream is a distant and fuzzy mirage.”
Kentucky’s first district ranked 34th out of 436 congressional districts with 25 and a half percent of workers projected to see wage increases. On average, more than 19 percent of workers would benefit. Kentucky’s minimum wage is the same as the federal government’s: $7.25 an hour.
See Oxfam America’s interactive map here.
