Important minimum wage campaigns conversations are currently happening in both Kansas City and St. Louis. Community leaders have asked Vision for Children at Risk and Empower Missouri to analyze how increases in the minimum wage would impact on families with low incomes, since many need the help of programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly known as food stamps) or subsidized child care to survive. We are pleased to make that resource available today. Raise the Wage
Increasing the minimum wage is a win for all Missourians. Higher wages will help families who are struggling move toward greater economic security. Children will benefit in the short and long term. Higher wages puts more money in the hands of consumers, and their purchases of goods and services fuel the local and state economies.
Missouri can certainly do better in sustaining working families by helping them access high quality and affordable childcare. This is a problem that can be solved, and important first steps were taken in the 2015 state budget. Missouri, as well as local communities, can build on that first step to see that workers have access to all basic human needs. Do we not agree that workers should not live in poverty?
While the transition holds challenges, there is nothing to gain by postponing a solution. Local foundations, corporations, advocates, and elected officials must all turn their attention toward how to create the best possible outcomes for working families and the children that are our future.
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