It is long past time for Kentucky and everyone else to raise the minimum wage, which is presently $7.25 per hour. The Lexington Herald-Leader makes a good argument: Kentucky Legislature Should Increase Minimum Wage.
Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo (D-Prestonsburg) has introduced a bill (HB 1) to raise the minimum wage in Kentucky in phases over three years to $10.10 per hour. The General Assembly should support and pass this bill.
The minimum wage has lagged well behind inflation. For instance, in 1968 the minimum wage was $1.60 per hour. To have the same buying power now, the minimum wage would have to be $10.70 per hour, as discussed here. That's a difference of $3.45 per hour or over $125 per week, $500 per month. This is enough to allow someone trying to get a good start to get a toehold, so he or she can lift themself and their family up and not be consigned forever to it being impossible to make it, which is where too many find themselves now.
Lexington, Kentucky employment, wages and overtime lawyer Robert Abell represents clients trying to recover the wages and overtime they've earned but not been paid; contact him at 859-254-7076.
