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Minimum Wage to Rise in US |
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Written by Staff Writer
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May 24, 2007 at 11:13 PM |
It has been announced that the US congress has voted to implement a $2.10 increase in the country's minimum wage. The minimum wage figure will increase to $7.25 from its existing level of $5.15. This is in accordance the the democrats' promise, upon being elected into control of congress in 2006, to raise the minimum wage. The increase is the first seen in over ten years.
THe bill to increase the minimum wage was voted in as an attachment to another bill, concerned with funding the war in Iraq. It will take 2 years for the raise to be implemented, and in order to lessen the strain on small businesses, a series of tax breaks will be introduced. These breaks will constitute a total of $4.84 billion.
According to Charles Rangel, chairman of the ways and means committee in the house of representatives, the wage increase "will help millions of American workers better cope with the rising cost of living while helping our businesses expand and hire new workers to keep our local economies vibrant". The wage increase is a welcome change in a country whose level of relative poverty in lower socio-economic classes is in dire need of remedy.
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Last Updated ( May 27, 2007 at 09:08 AM )
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