Moneda Moves (89): A long-waited raise to $15 an hour. Who would benefit the most?
¿Que tal, mi gente?
It’s been a busy week at The White House and that’s because America is watching as President Joe Biden makes steps toward his promises he’s made to US voters. In his first address to a joint session of Congress, his focus was exactly this and his economic goals for the country.
Let’s be clear — Biden still has a long list of promises to fulfill. Promises the Biden administration made to our Latinx community include:
💸 Investing in healthcare for our communities
💸 Increasing financial aid opportunities for low-income college students
💸 Protecting communities of color from environmental pollution
💸 Working with Congress to provide undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship
Among them is also the promise to make a big investment in America, now by way of The American Jobs Plan but also by raising federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. And while we still need a solution across the board, this week, President Biden signed an executive order to raise federal contractors' minimum wage to $15 an hour.
More on the raise in the updates below. Onto this week’s headlines.
Con poder,
Lyanne
Headlines to put on your radar.
Making free college a reality? 📚: President Biden pitched his plan for free college before a joint session of Congress this week and it could enable students to enroll in community college at no cost. Under Biden’s plan, about 5.5 million students would pay no tuition or fees, the White House elaborated.
Did you know that 25 states, like Arkansas, Indiana, Minnesota, already do have statewide free community-college programs? More are expected to follow suit after the pandemic.
Moneda Moves readers, we want to hear from you: Would you get a free higher education at a community college if you could?
Biden raises the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 💰: Today, the minimum wage for federal workers is $10.95 per hour versus the tipped minimum wage, which is $7.65 per hour.
Starting January 30 of next year, The White House announced that government agencies will need to offer a $15 an hour minimum wage in new contracts and existing contracts when they are extended a year. How many people will benefit from this? According to the Economic Policy Institute, about 390,000.
Meanwhile, Black and Latina women have the most to gain from a raise to $15/hour as this Washington Post piece explains.
“As a rule, women are more likely than men to earn less than $15 an hour, and Black and Hispanic people are more likely to fall below that threshold than their White and Asian peers, The Washington Post found,” writes Andrew Van Dam.
That’s the brief update for today! Until next Friday, catch us here on Moneda Moves.