By Al Norman
Why should elders care about raising the minimum wage in Massachusetts?
Well, for one thing, many older people are still in the workforce, and are earning minimum wage or less. According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of 2009, there were roughly 13 million people age 65 and over still in the workforce making an hourly wage at or below the prevailing Federal minimum wage. That’s 13 million reasons to advocate a higher minimum wage.
Seeking to expand economic opportunity for working people in the Commonwealth, lawmakers on Beacon Hill have voted to increase the state’s minimum wage to $11 an hour by 2017. The new law as adopted by the General Court would increase the minimum wage gradually, to $9 per hour in 2015, $10 in 2016 and $11 in 2017. The measure would also gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped workers, such as restaurant servers, from $2.63 per hour to $3.75 per hour, a 31 percent increase and the first since 1999.
The final version of the bill dropped a provision, which would have automatically linked future increases in the minimum wage to increases in the state’s rate of inflation. The inflation factor was included in a Senate version of the bill, but was not part of the House version. So this battle will have to be fought again in a few years.
The new law will raise the wages of about 600,000 people in the Bay State. In addition to helping these families and individuals, a minimum wage increase can also have positive effects on the overall economy, as higher wages allow workers to spend more at local businesses. When fully phased in, the increase will raise annual wages for affected workers by approximately $1.1 billion. These 600,000 workers whose wages will increase represent one-in-five wage earners in the Commonwealth. Over 85 percent are 20 years old or older, and 57 percent are women. At $11 an hour in 2017, Massachusetts would have the highest state minimum wage in the nation — unless other states raise their wage above that level during the next three years.
But here’s another reason to support a higher minimum wage: by 2017, the wages of home care aides, which now average around $10 an hour, will have to be raised to the minimum — but this also means that the minimum wage, which is now below the home care aide average — will catch up to the home care aide wage, in effect putting home care aides only at minimum wage.
Mass Home Care has argued that the 17,000 home care aides should be paid at least 133 percent of the current minimum wage, which would be $14.63 per hour, in order to attract workers to the home care field and away from other retail or fast food jobs. Personal Care Attendants (PCAs), who perform job functions for disable adults on MassHealth similar to the home care aides, are making $13.38 per hour as of last month. The new minimum wage increase should also increase pressure to raise the wages of home care aides and PCAs to keep them above the minimum wage level.
If we want better care for our elderly loved ones, we must be prepared to pay their caregivers more than a minimum wage.
Al Norman is the executive director of Mass Home Care. He can be reached at info@masshomecare.org.
