Many families earning minimum wage are living below the poverty line.
PA Homepage Eyewitness News WBRE and WYOU, July 6, 2017
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)- Rallies across Pennsylvania today calling for an increase in the state's minimum wage. That rate now stands at $7.25 per hour.
The folks at one rally in Wilkes-Barre say the minimum wage at its current level is barely enough to make ends meet. In fact, many families earning minimum wage are living below the poverty line.
They came from all over Northeastern Pennsylvania to urge people to support House Bill 1520, which calls for an increase in the state's minimum wage from $7.25 per hour ... to $15 an hour in 2024.
"Our life insurance agents - we're out and we see 1,200 members on a [weekly] basis," says Michael Clemente of Arias Agencies. "Hard-working Pennsylvanians. It's very hard for them to be able to make ends meet." ...
Lawmakers who support the legislation say it's the right thing to do. "Everything else has increased to the point that $7.25 an hour now is the poverty wage," says Representative Eddie Day Pashinski. ...
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