WASHINGTON — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Wednesday that the minimum wage in the District will increase starting July 1. The current minimum wage in D.C. is $15.20 per hour and it will increase to $16.10 per hour for employees that are not tipped. Employees that receive tips will now be paid $5.35 per hour starting July 1 as well. The current minimum wage for tipped employees is $5.05.
However, according to D.C.’s office of employment services website, if an employee’s hourly earnings from tips in conjunction with the base minimum wage for tipped employees do not add up to D.C.’s full minimum wage of $16.10, the employer is must pay the difference.
“DC is open and our workers deserve a fair shot at economic prosperity,” said Department of Employment Services Director Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes.
Up until July 1, the living wage rate is $15.50, and it will increase alongside the minimum wage rate to $16.10, according to DOES.
According to the U.S. Census, D.C. has a 15% poverty rate. The latest Census data also states the per capita income in the past 12 months (in 2020 dollars) was $58,695. With the increase in the minimum wage, a person making $16.10 and working 40 hours a week for a full-time job would make about $33,488 before taxes over a 12 months period.
According to a Living Wage calculator on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) website, which calculates how much a person must make to live comfortably in areas around the U.S., the calculations show that an adult without children would need to make $23.13 an hour to make the living wage in D.C. However, the living wage calculator also states that a single adult with one child would need to make $43.07 to support themself and the child in the District.
The numbers vary depending on how many children a person has and if there is more than one income coming into a household.
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