It’s getting ridiculous in D.C.! Three weeks ago the U.S. Senate fell six votes short of passing the Paycheck Fairness Act. Let’s not let the Senate fail on yet ANOTHER important bill that will help address the wage gap between women and men: Raising the minimum wage.

Here’s the lowdown: Tomorrow the U.S. Senate has another opportunity to move toward ending gender wage discrimination AND to help bring millions of families out of poverty by raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour.

*I’m writing my U.S. Senators today. Will you join me?  Tell your U.S. Senators to “Raise up women and our economy by raising the minimum wage.” http://action.momsrising.org/sign/momsraisethewage/

Raising the minimum wage helps women and it helps families. Women account for 55% of all workers who would benefit from increasing the minimum wage to $10.10. In addition, 28% of minimum wage workers have children. With those stats, it’s not so very surprising that studies show raising the minimum wage will help close the wage gap between women and men.

And what about that wage gap? Women already are at a disadvantage, earning less on average than men. The gap only increases for women of color and low-wage workers. And because women are disproportionally represented in low-wage work, they would also disproportionately benefit from an increase in the minimum wage. Working moms now make up about 40% of primary breadwinners for American families with children, but are bringing home 23% less than their male counterparts. Less pay means less ability for moms to provide the basics for their children like food, medicine, and housing, as well as longer term needs like college tuition. If we want to close the wage gap and pull families out of poverty, Congress needs to raise the minimum wage because working year round, full-time at the current federal minimum wage adds up to less than $15,000 per year.

*We need to make our voices echo through the halls of Congress and tell our elected officials to “Raise up women—raise the minimum wage to $10.10.” Join me in taking action here: http://action.momsrising.org/sign/momsraisethewage/

Don’t forget! This isn’t just about women. Raising the minimum wage helps our entire economy. Studies show that 140,000 new jobs would be created by raising the minimum wage, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago says a raise in the minimum wage would help our economy by increasing household spending nationwide by about $48 billion, even benefiting the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

* So let’s tell Congress to raise up women so we all can win. A raise in the minimum wage will help women, workers, families, and our economy. http://action.momsrising.org/sign/momsraisethewage/

The U.S. Senate can do the right thing this time around: They can raise the minimum wage and begin to close the wage gap.

Let’s face it, opponents to the minimum wage are spending a lot of money trying to silence moms and low-wage workers so we need to be extra, extra, extra loud.  We need as many people as possible to sign onto this letter via the link above so Congress knows that moms care about this issue. And also, after taking action, please make sure copy the action link to your Facebook and Twitter page.

We are also always looking to hear the stories of workers earning a minimum or tipped-wage. If you or someone in your family currently earns the minimum wage please tell us about it here: https://www.momsrising.org/member_stories/topic/share-your-experiences-on-the-minimum-wage-with-momsrising/