Does Massachusetts Needs a 'Living Wage?'

In a breakfast speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, urged lawmakers to consider a so-called living wage, and increasing the state's minimum wage, similar to legislation passed recently in Maine and New York.

“By identifying what a living wage is in Massachusetts, we can have a positive impact on families, and especially single parents who are trying to improve the lives of their children,” Murray said, according to an Associated Press article.

She noted that lawmakers in Maine recently approved a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $9 per hour by 2016, adjusting it annually for inflation after that. The bill has yet to be signed into law. New York recently agreed to raise its minimum wage to $9 over the next three years, without tying future increases to inflation. Other cities have passed their own citywide minimum wages that are indexed to inflation, she said. In Massachusetts, the minimum wage has been $8 per hour since 2008 and isn’t automatically adjusted to inflation.

In the speech, Murray also said it’s time to take another look at the state’s welfare system.

She added the system as it stands now discourages recipients from pursuing independence and includes loopholes “that continue to serve as incentives for individuals to stay on welfare instead of working.”

Murray said the Department of Transitional Assistance should shift its focus to training, education, and job placement for welfare recipients while providing “additional assistance to any high-risk recipients in the welfare system, such as teen parents, through trained specialists who can provide a more focused intervention.”

What do you think? Does Massachusetts need to raise the minimum wage? Should it be adjusted for inflation each year? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. 

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