Raise the Minimum Wage in Illinois

We need jobs that keep people out of poverty, not in it!

The minimum wage in Illinois is $8.25, which translates to about $16,500 a year for a full-time, year round worker. With the worst recession in a generation still being felt by hundreds of thousands of individuals across the nation, state and federal leaders are focused on getting their economies moving again while helping working families make ends meet. Raising the minimum wage is a key strategy for doing both and should be part of an economic recovery agenda.

Low-income families spend all of their additional income on basic necessities in their local communities. A raise in the minimum wage will increase consumer spending and create a higher demand for goods. This in turn will increase business profits, create jobs and assist in the overall economic health of our communities.

We are working with Raise Illinois to increase Illinois’ minimum wage from the current $8.25 per hour to $10.65 an hour by 2014. Raise Illinois is led by a coalition made up of community, business, faith and labor organizations along with minimum wage workers and supporters that are committed to fighting for a raise in the minimum wage in Illinois.

In January 2011, Senate Bill 1565 was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly. If passed, this legislation will gradually increase the minimum wage over four years, until 2014, when the wage will hit $10.65 and thereafter go up with the cost of living each year.