The federal minimum wage is rising to $5.85 this week, up from $5.15. The change is part of a plan to give minimum-wage workers an additional 70 cent boost each summer until 2009, when the minimum wage will be $7.50, or about $15,000 a year before taxes and without taking time off.

The poverty level in the us is around $10,210 a year.

The effect that a minimum wage increase will have on the economy is hotly debated. Some say it will cost jobs and raise prices, others say that it won’t. We’ll find out.

Federal Minimum Wage Rising This Week [Washington Post]
(Photo:GrooverFW)

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