COLUMBUS – Tens of thousands of Ohioans who earn the state’s minimum wage are getting a hefty raise next month.
The wage is going up by 80 cents to $10.10 per hour to keep up with rising prices, the largest adjustment on record.
The Economic Policy Institute estimated that 188,300 Ohioans now paid less than $10.10 will see a direct wage increase from the index, and 278,000 currently paid a little more will get a likely boost as employers adjust pay scales, Policy Matters Ohio researcher Michael Shields said.
“While those new pay scales won’t push up workers’ buying power, they serve as a vital safeguard against inflation, which hit a 40-year high this year. Without a similar index, the nation’s minimum wage has lost nearly half its peak value. and pass a $15 minimum wage,” said Shields, whose organization advocates for a $15-an-hour national minimum wage.
The automatic hike in the minimum wage is the result of a 2006 ballot issue approved by voters that indexes the wage to the rate of inflation, which has been at historic high levels all year and was 7.1% in November.