Mass.' minimum wage will stay at $15 this year. There's a new push to raise it to $20

In 2023, Massachusetts ushered in the final increase in a "grand bargain" to lift the minimum hourly wage to $15 — one of the highest in the country. The wage floor will remain the same in 2024, but now there's a push to raise it again to $20.

Advocates say the current minimum wage — which took years to achieve — is already outdated and isn't enough for residents to live on.

Workers like Starbucks barista Rob Stevens agree.

"After they take out my health insurance, after they take out my taxes, I'm making $5 an hour," Stevens, 41, said. He lives in Peabody with his wife and two kids.

Stevens, who ran unsuccessfully for Peabody mayor in the fall on a platform that included raising the minimum wage, said his family is "figuring out what we can go without" each month. Right now, he said that means forgoing heating oil and some much needed dental work.

Stevens said his family made these sacrifices despite the fact that he earns slightly more than the minimum wage, at $16.25 an hour. Stevens said he got the $1.25 hourly bump several months ago as other Starbucks stores unionized.

He's actively searching for a second gig, and said he believes the minimum wage should be raised even higher than $20 an hour.

"We're not asking for extra avocado toast and two iPhones a year," he said. "We're saying like, 'Yo, we're struggling to afford to live.' "

Two bills are pending at the State House that would raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour by 2027. Labor advocates said they expect to ramp up their campaign for a higher minimum wage in 2024.

"If the minimum wage was worth in real dollars what it was worth at $15 in 2018 ... it would be worth $18 today," said Harris Gruman of the Raise Up Coalition, which previously led the "Fight for $15" initiative. "So, it's already quite a bit behind what our goal was at the time we passed the bill [in 2018]. And that's because inflation has been high."

The Raise Up Coalition supports the pending legislation, which would index the minimum wage to inflation, as some states — including Maine and Vermont — already do.

According to an analysis by the Massachusetts Budget & Policy Center, the bills would benefit about 1 million workers — or 29% of all wage earners in the state. Gruman said many of them work in critical industries, like food, hospitality, child care and social services.

"We are going to have a crisis of out-migration of the workforce we need to keep our economy strong, keep our communities strong," Gruman said. "So we have to treat the workers well to treat ourselves well. That's a very urgent thing, and that's why we need to really act on raising wages to a living wage."

But opponents say bumping up the wage floor makes it harder for small businesses to operate.

"It's been a struggle for small businesses that we represent to deal with constantly rising labor costs," said Christopher Carlozzi, Massachusetts director for the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents more than 5,000 businesses in the state.

Carlozzi said some businesses already pay employees more than minimum wage, with many also offering bonuses or other financial incentives to attract workers due to post-pandemic labor shortages.

"... We have to treat the workers well to treat ourselves well. That's a very urgent thing, and that's why we need to really act on raising wages to a living wage."

"Businesses have made it through the pandemic. They've struggled. They've done everything possible to try to keep their doors open," Carlozzi said. "We can't keep tacking on additional labor costs."

Carlozzi also warned higher labor costs sometimes get passed on to consumers in the form of more expensive goods and services. He noted his group did a recent analysis that found increasing the minimum wage to $20 an hour could lead to job losses over time.

Advocates for raising the minimum wage counter by saying it will boost the economy.

"Employees at one business are customers at many other businesses," said Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. "And so minimum wage increases go right back into local businesses and the economy."

John Schall, owner of the El Jefe's Taqueria chain, said increasing wages over the last few years helped him retain staff, which led to more productivity and higher sales across his various locations. He now pays his staff roughly $16.50 an hour on average.

"Having a strong, stable staff and paying benefits and living wages that allow for that is absolutely crucial," said Schall, who testified at a September legislative committee hearing in support of legislation to raise the minimum wage to $20. "Right now $15 is no longer sufficient for a living wage in Massachusetts, and lots of other places as well."

According to an MIT analysis, when factoring in typical expenses — such as food, housing, transportation and other costs — a single adult with no children working full-time in Massachusetts needed to earn $21.35 an hour in 2023 to support themselves.

The legislation to raise the minimum wage in Massachusetts remains in committee. Groups on both sides of the debate said they plan to keep pushing their positions as the bills wind through the legislative process.