Minimum-Wage Workers Not Just Teens, Study Shows

Fri., April 17, 1998

By Virginia de Leon virginiad@spokesman.com

Teenagers working after school aren’t the only ones earning minimum wage.

According to a recent University of Washington study, more than two-thirds of the people who are paid $5.15 an hour are over the age of 20. One-third of them are the primary wage earners for families.

Those were just some of the statistics cited Thursday at a rally in support of Initiative 688.

The initiative would raise Washington state’s minimum wage to $5.70 an hour in 1999, and to $6.50 in 2000. After that, the wage would be adjusted each year for inflation.

“I support the notion that people who work hard can … take more money home each year,” said Brad Lyons, an Odessa farmer who is seeking George Nethercutt’s congressional seat.

“There are too many families here working full-time jobs at the poverty level,” Lyons said. “Increasing the minimum wage would support these families and the working people of the area.”

His short speech was greeted with cheers from about 25 people who showed up at the noon rally in downtown Spokane.

I-688 supporters need 225,000 signatures by July 2 to get it on the November ballot. Volunteers in Spokane County are aiming for 29,000 signatures, said Heidi Burbidge, an initiative spokeswoman.

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