New York City, Once a Minimum Wage Leader, Now Lags Behind
“When New York City’s minimum wage first reached $15 nearly four years ago, New York was at the forefront of the movement to raise living standards for workers in the fast-food industry and other low-paying sectors. But in recent months, as the costs of rent, groceries and utilities have surged, the minimum wage in a growing list of cities, including Washington, Los Angeles and Denver, has vaulted past. New York, unlike those cities, did not link its minimum wage to the rate of inflation. As the cost of living rises across the country, workers earning the lowest wages in the nation’s biggest city are seeing their incomes steadily reduced in real terms.”