Minimum wage hasn’t grown with US productivity. Missouri should vote to fix it | Opinion

What if I told you that with just a pen, you could improve the health outcomes of your community, decrease the divorce rate and improve the economy? Not only can you do this with a pen, but the hope is that you can do this this Nov. 5, 2024, between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. at your local Missouri polling location.

In May, Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages turned in 210,000 signatures for a ballot measure that would increase the minimum wage from $12.30 to $13.75 by January 2025 and then to $15 in 2026. The measure would also provide Missouri workers one hour of sick leave per 30 hours worked. I am one of the 210,000 Missourians who signed, and I spent a Saturday morning volunteering to gather signatures.

If the measure is passed, it would provide raises to over 562,000 Missouri workers. That is enough people to fill Arrowhead Stadium just over seven times. Most workers making minimum wage in Missouri are over 20 years old. It would mean 1 in 4 Missouri children and 1 in 3 Missouri workers could benefit from access to paid sick leave.

But what does raising the minimum wage have to do with my opening question? Studies have shown that raising the minimum wage can have positive outcomes on health. There are associations between increased wages and decreased hypertension, better birth outcomes and increased leisure time.

A study on the impact of raising the minimum wage on divorce rates showed that a $1 increase in the minimum wage can reduce the divorce rate by 7-15% one to two years later. Poorer people are less likely to get married and five times more likely to have children out of wedlock. They are also twice as likely to get divorced.

Raising the minimum wage would boost Missouri’s economy by increasing consumer activity. Inflation has significantly reduced the buying power of the minimum wage. According to the Clark-Fox Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, a Missouri family consisting of two adults and two children needs both adults to make $22.89 an hour to support their family. Even living in the one of the least expensive counties in the state, St, Francois County, that same family of four would need an annual income of $65,226, or roughly $16.99 an hour each.

One argument against raising the minimum wage is that it would increase unemployment. However, the last time a phased increase of the minimum wage was passed, the unemployment rate in Missouri went down by a rate higher than the national average. In 2018, 62% of Missouri voters voted yes on Proposition B to raise the minimum wage.

In 2021, Gov.Mike Parson called for the minimum wage for state government employees to be raised to $15. Parson recognized that increasing wages was the answer to the issue of turnover among state employees. Unfortunately, Parson has not been able to make this a reality. However, you might have the opportunity to make it happen for him by voting to increase the minimum wage for all Missouri workers.

If the federal minimum wage had been growing in step with national productivity growth, as it did in the past, it would would be $24 an hour today. Signatures for this ballot initiative will be verified in August. If it makes it onto the ballot for November, you must do your duty as a Missourian to vote to increase the minimum wage

Theresa Woodward is a Missourian, petition signer, signature gatherer, licensed clinical social worker and voter. She lives in Grain Valley.