A group of religious leaders, workers and small business owners joined together on Feb. 13 in the evening for a rally in Raleigh regarding minimum wage.
The federal threshold in North Carolina for minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009. Around 16 bills have been proposed to increase the minimum wage but failed.
Over the course of the last 11 years, the necessities to live have increased drastically. Child care, rent and education have caused the value of minimum wage to decrease by over 24%, The Center Square reports. Those that are making minimum wage have been living under the federal threshold by thousands, essentially living in poverty, President of the North Carolina AFL-CIO told The Center Square.
In order to cover the "bare necessities" for living, advocates in North Carolina state that $15 is a living wage at a minimum. With that said, the $15 wage would only leave room for what is needed to get by. Researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research found that increases in the minimum wage have proven to lead to an improvement in childhood health, The Center Square reports.
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