The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law estimates that 1,450,000 LGBT adults would see an increase in earnings by 2025 if the minimum wage were increased from $7.25 to $15 per hour. This estimate includes 913,000 LGBT workers who would have earned less than $15 per hour without the proposed increase and an additional 537,000 million LGBT workers who might see ripple effects on their wages.
On Thursday, the US House of Representatives is expected to vote on the Raise the Wage Act, which would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024.
Prior research from the Williams Institute found that increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour would reduce the proportion of male same-sex couples living in poverty by one-third and female same-sex couples by almost one-half.
“We would expect similar reductions in poverty among LGBT people who are not in same-sex couple households,” said lead author Kerith J. Conron, the Blachford-Cooper Distinguished Scholar and Research Director at the Williams Institute. “Those with the highest rates of poverty, including Black, Latino/a, bisexual, and transgender adults, would experience greater benefit.”