The federal minimum wage hasn't been worth this little since 1956

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VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE WED, JUL 20, 2022 Nick Vega is a money reporter at CNBC Make It. You can follow him on Twitter at @atNickVega. The $7.25 federal minimum wage is at its lowest value in more than half a century, new analysis shows.    The Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, recently analyzed Consumer Price Index data and found that the federal minimum wage hasn't been worth less since the Eisenhower administration, when the minimum wage was 75 cents, or $7.19 today adjusted for inflation. Congress hasn't increased the minimum wage since 2009, when it went from $6.55 to $7.25. The nearly 13 year gap since the last increase is the longest the government has gone without upping the minimum wage since it was first introduced in 1938.   Until now, the previous longest span between minimum wage increases was 10 years, between September 1997 and July 2007.   "We've gotten into this pattern where we let inflation just eat away at the minimum wage's value instead of doing something to make sure that it's still a more adequate wage for folks," David Cooper, director of the economic analysis and research network at the EPI, tells CNBC Make It. A person earning the minimum wage for a full-time job in 2009 when it was raised to $7.25 was effectively earning $5,000 more than a person earning the same wage and working the same hours today.   "Think what that means for someone who's trying to afford rent, or a car payment, or student loans or whatever it may be," Cooper says. "That's an enormous difference in that person's quality of life."   Many parts of the U.S. have taken minimum wage increases into their own hands, with Nevada, Oregon, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. all increasing their minimum wages as of July 1, CNBC reports. Other states with higher minimum wages include Vermont, South Dakota, New York, California and New Mexico. But 20 states still have a minimum wage of $7.25.   President Joe Biden has advocated for a $15 federal minimum wage. Earlier this year he signed an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal workers and contractors to $15.   An effort to include a $15 minimum wage in last year's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package was halted by the Senate parliamentarian, who deemed it ineligible.   Despite some states increasing their minimum wage, Cooper says that real change will only be seen once it happens at the federal level, adding that a low wage floor affects more people than just those earning the minimum.   "It is also damaging for people who are a little further up the wage ladder and earning $3 or $4 more than the minimum," he says. "If that wage floor had been raised more regularly over the course of the last 20 to 30 years, those folks would be earning a lot more today than they currently are." Trending articles from CNBC Make It This 35-year-old spends $55 a month photoshopping dogs—and has made $100,000 in just half a year Should you rent or buy a house? Use the 'BURL' rule to avoid financial regret, says real estate investor 40% of U.S. workers are considering quitting their jobs soon—here's where they're going Experts predicted Covid would normalize the sick day. It's done the opposite The danger of skipping your Covid booster is rising—and more than 100 million Americans are at risk Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Digital Products Feedback Terms of Service Privacy Policy © 2021 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBC Universal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS