What's the Difference between Minimum Wage and Living Wage in New York?

Minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate employers are allowed by law to pay their employees. In New York, the minimum wage is $8.75 an hour, one of the highest minimum wage hourly rates among states in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. New York’s minimum wage is $1.50 more than the federal government’s minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, according to InsideGov.

New York’s current minimum wage puts the Empire State at No. 10 out of 50 states and Washington D.C., among the highest minimum wages in the U.S., according to Bankrate. The state’s minimum wage was $8 an hour, but the state government increased the wage by 75 cents in 2014. The state announced plans to hike the wage by 25 cents more per hour at the end of 2015.

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Despite boasting one of the nation’s highest minimum wages, New York’s rate is still significantly below the living wage. A living wage is an hourly rate that enables a family or individual to enjoy a standard of living that doesn’t require dependence on government programs, according to the Living Wage Foundation.

A living wage in New York is not a set hourly rate because it is relative to the size of the family. The living wage necessary to fully support one adult is $10.13, according to the Living Wage Calculator created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The living wage rate expands to $20.78 per hour for an adult and one child. A living wage of $24.86 an hour is needed to support one adult and two children. The living wage for one adult and three children is $31.51 an hour.

To generate a more livable wage to individuals and families reliant on minimum wage jobs, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pushing for the state to raise the minimum wage by $6.25 an hour to $15 an hour for all fast-food workers, Forbes reported. Governors in New York have the right to establish higher wages for certain portions of the state’s economy.

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Nearly doubling the minimum wage for more than 180,000 fast-food employees is just one living wage proposal from Cuomo. He also is seeking to raise New York’s minimum wage by $1.75 an hour to $10.50 an hour, as well as New York City’s minimum wage to $11.50 an hour. His goal is to increase both rates before the close of 2016, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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