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Tuesday, November 12, 2024

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Trump's emerging team of loyalists is primed for a fast start in his second term; GA activist focuses on zoning violations to advocate for environmental health; Federal tax credits help clinics expand in low-income IL communities; Experts say antibiotic resistance is growing in VT due to 'superbugs.'

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Immigrant rights groups and librarians react to Trump's win. The President-elect names philosophical allies and deregulators to White House positions and Democrats wonder how they can fight Trump policies, given the GOP's congressional majority.

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Texas women travel some of the longest distances for abortion care, Californians the shortest, rural living comes with mixed blessings for veterans, an ancient technique could curtail climate-change wildfires, and escape divisive politics on World Kindness Day.

NH care workers would benefit from higher federal minimum wage

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Tuesday, July 30, 2024   

More than 130,000 New Hampshire workers would benefit from a raise in the federal minimum wage, according to a new report.

It includes the more than 20% of women in the state earning less than $17 per hour, who make up the bulk of the state's child care and elder care workforce.

Kaitlyn Henderson, senior researcher for the nonprofit Oxfam America, said Black and Latina women in particular are filling vital roles in the care industry, yet struggle to care for their own families on substandard pay.

"There is an opportunity for us to not only invest more in those industries but also to increase the wages of these workers who are doing some of the most essential work that there is in our economy," Henderson contended.

Henderson pointed out the overwhelming majority of low-wage earners are adults over age 20, and a significant number are single parents. New Hampshire remains the only state in New England to follow the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

Advocates for workers are backing federal legislation known as the Raise the Wage Act, which calls for increasing the minimum wage to $17 per hour by 2028. The measure would also phase out the subminimum wage of $2.13 for tipped workers, ensuring consistent pay without eliminating tips. Henderson added exclusions to the minimum wage for teens, farmworkers and people with disabilities would be eliminated.

"The Raise the Wage Act does a variety of things that would go a really long way to investing in the workers in our communities and really helping the economy, at the end of the day," Henderson emphasized.

The measure was introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and has more than 30 co-sponsors but does not include members of New Hampshire's congressional delegation. Supporters of the bill noted if the minimum wage had increased with productivity over the past 50 years, it would be $23 per hour today.


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