On Thursday, January 30, 2014, Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Dean of the Senate women, was joined by Senate Democratic women to urge Republicans in Congress to support legislation to raise the minimum wage, which would lift the wages of 15 million women in America.
The Senate Democratic women discussed the importance of passing the Minimum Wage Fairness Act, which would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour, in three steps between this year and 2016.
Nearly two-thirds of those who earn the minimum wage or less are women, and two-thirds of tipped minimum wage workers are women. Right now, a woman who works full-time in a minimum wage job to support her kids earns just $290 a week, which adds up to just $15,000 per year -- below the poverty line for a single mom.
Senator Mikulski also discussed the need for action to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation she introduced that would help close the wage gap to ensure equal pay for equal work once and for all.