59 PERCENT BACK $15 MINIMUM WAGE

“ ‘There’s still a lot of pro-labor, pro-worker sentiment,” said Michael Kazin, a historian at Georgetown University who has written about populism and popular movements. “Inequality is a big issue nowadays. The Fight for $15 has become the way that civil rights was in the early ’60s — it’s an issue you can’t avoid. For politicians — or at least Democratic politicians — you want to be on the right side.’

“Fifty-nine percent of Americans, including 84 percent of Democrats and 58 percent of independents, support a $15 minimum wage, according to a poll by the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonpartisan research group. Just 32 percent of Republicans do.”

Steven Greenhouse, “How the $15 Minimum Wage Went from Laughable to Viable,” The New York Times, April 1, 2016. Steven Greenhouse, a visiting researcher at the Russell Sage Foundation, is a former labor and workplace reporter for The New York Times and the author of The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker.

PLANS FOR $15 MINIMUM WAGE ARE SPREADING

“In New Jersey, Democratic lawmakers have warned Gov. Chris Christie that if he vetoes a $15 statewide minimum, they will ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment that sets a $15 floor. And in Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser has announced plans to push the City Council to embrace the idea. The Legislatures in Connecticut and Massachusetts are also weighing $15.”

Steven Greenhouse, “How the $15 Minimum Wage Went from Laughable to Viable,” The New York Times, April 1, 2016. Steven Greenhouse, a visiting researcher at the Russell Sage Foundation, is a former labor and workplace reporter for The New York Times and the author of The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker.

TWO STATES GOING TO $15 MINIMUM WAGE

“Last Monday [March 28, 2016], Gov. Jerry Brown of California announced a deal with state lawmakers to raise California’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022 — a move expected to lift pay for five million workers. And late Thursday [March 31, 2016] Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York reached a deal with legislative leaders to adopt a $15 minimum wage in New York City in 2018 and in its suburbs in 2021, with a $12.50 minimum in upstate New York.

“ ‘Once California and New York go, it is likely that more states will follow,’ said Paul K. Sonn, general counsel of the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group for low-wage workers.”

Steven Greenhouse, “How the $15 Minimum Wage Went from Laughable to Viable,” The New York Times, April 1, 2016. Steven Greenhouse, a visiting researcher at the Russell Sage Foundation, is a former labor and workplace reporter for The New York Times and the author of The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker.

‘A NATION OF RENTERS’

“Job scarcity and low wages are the reasons we’re becoming a nation of renters rather than homeowners. They are the reasons that 51 percent of workers earn less than $30,000 a year. They are the reasons for the demise of the middle class and the burgeoning welfare rolls, the modern-day equivalent of slavery.”

Catherine Sellers, “The Causes of Income Inequality,” American Thinker, November 3, 2015.

WAGES FOR THE BOTTOM 90 PERCENT HAVE BEEN STAGNANT

“Income inequality has risen during the last several decades to heights last seen in the 1920s. Most of the income growth has gone to a small fraction of the population, the ultra-rich elites, while real wages for the bottom 90 percent has been stagnant since the 1980s. The U.S. now ranks at, or near, the top of developed countries for income inequality. Job creation has lagged far behind population growth. Automation has erased some jobs, but corrupt, inept government leadership is responsible for the deplorable job-deficit-low wage situation.”

Catherine Sellers, “The Causes of Income Inequality,” American Thinker, November 3, 2015.

48 PERCENT BELIEVE THEY ARE IN LOWER OR WORKING CLASSES

“A Gallup poll released this week [May 2015] shows that Americans are feeling increasingly in economic retreat. Barely half (51 percent) now consider themselves as being part of the middle or upper classes, compared to an average of 61 percent during 2000-08. A full 48 percent say they are now in the working or lower classes.”

Susan Milligan, “The New Economic Issue, With the Economy Improving, Candidates Across the Political Spectrum Are Focusing on Income Inequality, U.S. News & World Report, May 1, 2015.

MINIMUM WAGE IS LOWER THAN IN 1968 IN REAL TERMS

“ ‘The root cause from our perspective is reduced bargaining power,’ says Josh Bivens, research and policy director at the liberal-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Labor union membership has shrunk, and governors across the nation have been successful in weakening the bargaining power of public sector unions, he notes. That, he said, is a major reason the minimum wage, in real terms, is lower than it was in 1968, while productivity has increased 80 percent since then.”

Susan Milligan, “The New Economic Issue, With the Economy Improving, Candidates Across the Political Spectrum Are Focusing on Income Inequality,” U.S. News & World Report, May 1, 2015.