DOVER – The House voted Thursday to raise Delaware’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, fulfilling a key priority of this year’s legislative session and fostering a more prosperous future for thousands of working families statewide.
Under Senate Bill 15, which cleared the Senate earlier this year, Delaware’s lowest base wage will increase to $10.50 per hour next year, followed by a $1.25 raise in 2023, a $1.50 raise in 2024 and a $1.75 raise in 2025.
Those gradual increases will help to lift hundreds of families out of poverty, bolster Delaware’s economy and keep local businesses competitive with surrounding states.
Governor John Carney supports SB 15 and is expected to sign it into law.
“Raising the minimum wage will help ensure that working people share in Delaware’s post-pandemic economic recovery. A higher minimum wage will put more money in the pockets of the very same customers that small businesses rely on, and it will reduce strain on the social safety net and state spending on programs to aid people who don’t earn enough to live on,” said Rep. Gerald Brady, D-Wilmington, lead House sponsor of SB 15. “This legislation is also a major step toward restoring the promise that a job brings with it a fundamental level of dignity and peace of mind for every Delawarean. I look forward to the Governor signing this bill into law and helping to bolster economic security for so many Delaware families.”
With the enactment of SB 15, Delaware will join four of its five surrounding states in moving to a $15 minimum wage by 2025. In Pennsylvania, workers are paid the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour – a rate unchanged since 2009.
“This is a great day for the essential Delaware worker,” said Sen. Jack Walsh, the prime sponsor of SB 15. “After standing on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic for over a year, thousands of grocery store clerks, retail workers, janitors and long-term care workers will be able to sleep tonight knowing Delaware has their backs. I want to thank my colleagues in the House for recognizing we owed them more than our gratitude. We owe them a better life. This legislation will help lift families out of poverty and inject money back into our small businesses at the exact moment they need it the most, creating a virtuous cycle that will help power our economy for years to come.”
Delaware’s current minimum wage of $9.25 an hour – set in 2019 – earns full-time workers just $1,480 a month before taxes. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the average 2-bedroom apartment in Delaware now costs $1,142 a month, leaving minimum-wage earners with less than $84 a week for groceries, medicine, car insurance and other necessities. Those impossibly tight margins help to explain why 13% of Delaware children live below the poverty line and 20% are unsure of where their next meal is coming from.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, 60% of minimum-wage earners in the United States are older than 25, nearly 60% are women, 51% are people of color and 25% are supporting children.
Many of Delaware’s largest private employers are already providing starting or average wages of $15 an hour, including ChristianaCare, Walmart, Amazon and Target.
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