Washington, D.C. – Bread for the World urges members of the House of Representatives to quickly pass the Raise the Wage Act (H.R. 582). The Raise the Wage Act was introduced by Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) and has over 200 co-sponsors. If passed, the Raise the Wage Act would lift wages for 27 million American workers, raising the earnings of the average low-wage worker by $1,600 annually.
“The Bible is clear, ‘the laborer deserves to be paid’ (1 Timothy 5:18),” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. “Raising the minimum wage is critical to ending hunger and poverty in the United States.”
The Raise the Wage Act would raise the federal minimum wage this year and increase it annually until it reaches $15 an hour in 2025. Thereafter, the minimum wage would be adjusted each year to keep pace with inflation. If passed, the bill would phase out the tipped minimum wage and sunset the ability of employers to pay workers with disabilities a subminimum wage. Tipped workers experience higher levels of poverty than other workers.
“Poverty and food insecurity in America are driven in part by low wages,” Beckmann said. “If the Raise the Wage Act were enacted almost 1.2 million households would be lifted out of food insecurity.”
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in faith.” These words from Colossians 2:6 remind us of the faith that is active in love for our neighbors.
The Bible on...
Dear Members of Congress,
As the president and Congress are preparing their plans for this year, almost 100 church leaders—from all the families of U.S. Christianity—are...
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to respond to changes in need, making it well suited to respond to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bread for the World and its partners are asking Congress to provide $200 million for global nutrition in the fiscal year 2020 budget.
In 2017, 11.8 percent of households in the U.S.—40 million people—were food-insecure, meaning that they were unsure at some point during the year about how they would provide for their next meal.