Purser Weighs in on New York’s Minimum Wage Increase in WAER Article

January 17, 2023

WAER

Gretchen Purser

Sociology Department

Center for Qualitative and Multi-Method Inquiry

Advocacy and Activism

Income

Labor

New York State

WAER

Gretchen Purser

The final stage of New York's tiered minimum wage increase program took effect with the start of the new year. Labor expert Gretchen Purser, associate professor of sociology, says the $14.20 per hour still falls short of providing enough to help make ends meet.

"Because what we have been experiencing in recent years has been really historic levels of in terms of increase of the cost of living," Purser says. "And so this increased minimum wage doesn't reflect what we have all been experiencing, which is the rising cost of living."

Purser adds, "New York was at the forefront of raising the minimum wage many years ago. But now it's quite outdated. And what we really need is a piece of legislation that will index these raises and the minimum wage to rising costs of living and increases in worker productivity."

Read more in the WAER article, "SU expert says New York's recent minimum wage increase still falls short."