Photo: Clayton Henkel

Over the last 87 years – particularly during the 20th Century – few innovations in the American economy have done more to lift up average people than the minimum wage.

As it was first conceived and applied, the federal minimum wage law assured that a person who worked full-time was paid enough to support their family. And for many decades, the minimum wage actually worked that way.

Unfortunately, in recent decades—thanks to opposition from the political right – the federal minimum wage has remained mired at the absurdly inadequate level of seven dollars and twenty-five cents per hour. Indeed, it was 16 years ago today that it was raised to that level.

And while many states and cities have gone ahead and raised their minimum wages to much higher levels in recent years, in most others – including North Carolina – it’s still legal to pay the pitiful sum of seven-twenty-five an hour.

The bottom line: It’s long past time to once again make the minimum wage a living wage, and the failure of Congress and the North Carolina legislature to do so is simply inexcusable.

For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.