Happy New Year, Mother Jones readers.
I must admit, today almost feels like my first day writing the newsletter. Between a mid-December reporting trip, followed directly by trips to Miami and Bangladesh for friends' weddings (they were amazing), I haven't been in the office—or my regular work routine—for a few weeks now. I hope you also had time to unplug and rest as last year wound down.
If you didn't, though, here's a bit of good news heading into 2024: A bunch of places—22 states and 43 cities and counties, to be precise—enacted new minimum wage increases yesterday, according to a report from the National Employment Law Project. Six of those states—California, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Washington—now have a minimum wage that reaches or surpasses $15, which has been the goal of the decade-long "Fight for $15" movement. The increases should disproportionately benefit Black, Hispanic, and female workers, who make up more than half of the workers receiving pay bumps, according to an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute.
Another three states and 22 jurisdictions will also raise their minimum wages this year. Twenty of these increases will be to $15 or more for some or all employers; 15 places will reach or exceed $17, according to NELP data.
Are you benefiting from one of these pay bumps? I hope so. And with most Americans, including a majority of Democrats, supporting a $15 federal minimum wage, these pay bumps could be good news for Democrats in an election year.
I hope you'll keep reading—and supporting!—our (expanding) work in 2024, and I look forward to continuing to visit your inboxes this year.
—Julianne McShane
