Inside The Political Fight To Raise The Minimum Wage

06:51

May 06, 2016

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) (R) points to a chart as Rep. George Miller (D-CA) (L) looks on during a news conference July 24, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The news conference was to call on Congress to raise the national minimum wage. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

In a news conference Friday, President Barack Obama once again called on Congress to increase the federal minimum wage, which hasn't gone up since 2007. Since then, the fight to raise the minimum wage has played out on the state and local levels.

But the federal fight to raise the minimum wage has a long history. And now the minimum wage has become part of election-year politics. Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson breaks down the national policy and politics of raising the minimum wage with Marilyn Geewax, senior business editor for NPR.

View other stories from our week-long series on raising the minimum wage.

Guest

Marilyn Geewax, NPR senior business editor. She tweets @geewaxnpr.

This segment aired on May 6, 2016.

Series: Is It Time To Raise The Minimum Wage?policy