Delaware just became the 10th state to enact a $15 minimum wage
- Delaware became the 10th state to gradually raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour.
- Like several other states hiking their wages, it will be a gradual increase over the next four years.
- The federal minimum of $7.25 has remained unchanged since 2009.
The number of states set to raise their minimum wage to $15 an hour is now in the double digits, as Delaware joins the club.
"Delawareans who go to work full time shouldn't be living in poverty," Gov. John Carney said in a statement after signing it into law on Monday.
Residents will get their first raise in 2022, with the wage gradually increasing to $15 by 2025. Currently, Delaware's minimum is $9.25 an hour - $2 higher than the federal minimum of $7.25. It will go up to $10.50 in 2022, according to Delaware Online. It hits $11.72 in 2023, $13.25 in 2024, and then $15 in 2025.
With Delaware, one-fifth of the states in the US are now set to enact a $15 minimum wage. Many, including recent additions Rhode Island and Florida, are gradually increasing their wages. Experts previously told Insider that a gradual increase helps businesses adjust to the higher rates. But that could also mean that the wages will be worth less than $15 by the time they're enacted as inflation grows.
The move by Delaware also comes as progress on raising the federal minimum wage remains stalled. Eight Democrats voted against including a $15 minimum in President Joe Biden's stimulus package, and talks between party members on hiking the wage reportedly haven't gotten far. The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009.
Many states have simply taken wage raises into their hands, with 29 states above the federal minimum of $7.25.
"I think every time a state like Delaware joins the movement, it's going to encourage other states to do so," Sunborn said. "And I hope that what the other states will see is that this will be a successful transition for Delaware, businesses and encourage other states to join the movement."
Courtney Sunborn, owner of Ecolistic Cleaning in Lewes, Delaware, and a vocal advocate for raising the minimum wage, is part of advocacy group Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. She said her business has paid a "living wage" since it began. In an op-ed for Delaware Online, she wrote that none of her employees will make less than $15 by the end of the year.
"I have had such great success with paying living wages. My business ... has been in business for 18 years, and over those 18 years, we've had growth every single year, excluding last year due to COVID," Sunborn said, adding: "The financial gains each year, I believe, are in part due to me paying employees living wage."
She attributes that to paying less for marketing due to happier employees and customers, as well as lower employee turnover.