Connecticut Minimum Wage Set to Increase in January

Connecticut’s minimum wage will increase to $16.35 an hour on Jan. 1 – a 4.2% wage hike from the current $15.69 an hour, and the sixth consecutive hourly wage increase thanks to a law that Democrats passed in 2019, Gov. Ned Lamont’s office announced last week.

That 2019 law – House Bill 5004 – passed despite unanimous Republican opposition. The bill increased Connecticut’s minimum hourly wage from $10.10 an hour to $11 on Oct. 1, 2019; $12 on Sept. 1, 2020; $13 on Aug. 1, 2021; $14 on July 1, 2022; and $15 on June 1, 2023.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, the law indexed all future minimum wage changes to the federal employment cost index.

State Senator Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, who is Senate chair of the Labor and Public Employees Committee, told Hearst CT media that the increase will be a real benefit for working people in Connecticut.

“There’s considerable pressure to make ends meet,” Kushner told Hearst. “Workers know they have hope.”

According to the Current Population Survey as calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 60% of minimum wage earners in Connecticut are women. A person working full-time and making the minimum wage will earn $34,008 in 2025. In 2020, 50% of Connecticut residents filed income tax returns claiming an adjusted gross income of $21,000 or less, while another 18% filed returns claiming they made between $21,000 and $60,000.

In a press release announcing the pay boost, Lamont said the state’s law ensured that the wages of low-income workers grew alongside the economy.

“This is a fair, modest adjustment for workers who will invest their earnings right back into our economy and support local businesses in their communities,” Lamont said.

Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz and Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo agreed.

“The minimum wage was established to provide a fair, livable baseline of income for those who work,” Bysiewicz said. “But, for too long, while the nation’s economy grew, the income of minimum wage workers stayed flat, making already existing pay disparities even worse, especially for the already economically disadvantaged. This is a policy that benefits everyone and provides more financial security to families, especially women and people of color.”

“Minimum wage increases help ensure that no Connecticut worker gets left behind,” Bartolomeo said. “The majority of minimum wage earners are women, and many have families. Giving them this increase is good policy that supports Connecticut workers and the local economy.”

Posted By Lawrence Cook