Right now, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which means a full-time minimum wage employee earns $15,080 per year. This low wage hurts our families and hurts our economy. After all, when people don’t have the funds to spend in local stores, in our communities, then our entire consumer-fuelled economy suffers.

*It’s past time to raise the wage: http://action.momsrising.org/sign/minimumwage/

Everyone agrees that raising the minimum wage is important for our economy and families, even though some in Congress aren’t on board yet.

• 75% of Americans support an increase in the federal minimum wage to $12.50/hour by 2020.

• More than 30 states, cities, and counties have passed minimum wage increases by legislation or ballot initiative.

• And last week President Obama showed his support for raising the minimum wage by stating in the State of the Union, “To everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.” [3]

The voters and the President are all on board about raising the wage. Now we need YOU to convince Congress!!

We need your voice and your signature! Write the U.S. Congress NOW and tell them to raise the federal minimum wage for all workers. http://action.momsrising.org/sign/minimumwage/

There are 74 new members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, many of whom either aren’t on record to raise the minimum wage, have never served in office before, or who need convincing. They may not realize that most of their constituents do not think that the family of a minimum wage worker should live below the poverty line and struggle to put food on the table. They also may not know what a success the minimum wage has been economically. States that have already raised the minimum wage experienced higher job growth that those that did not.

It’s time for moms and dads to make our voices heard! Only pressure from constituents is going to move Congress to raise the minimum wage!

Join us TODAY in writing your members of Congress and telling them to #RaisetheWage for women and families: http://action.momsrising.org/sign/minimumwage/

The fight has already started on what “raising the wage” really means. Washington insiders are reporting that some in the Senate, led by Republican Senator Susan Collins, will soon introduce a bill that claims to raise the minimum wage but would really still keep many families in poverty. The rumored bill would raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour, likely would not include a raise for tipped workers—two-thirds of which are women, nor would it index the wage to the cost of living, meaning the next time America’s low-wage workers need a raise, they’ll have to go through Congress again.

We need Congress to fall in line with the American public and President Obama and pass a bold minimum wage bill that will lift families out of poverty, including tipped workers, and index the minimum wage to the cost of living so we don’t have to depend on Congress every time we want the wage of workers to go up.

Will you write your members of Congress today and tell them to “support our families by raising the minimum wage”? http://action.momsrising.org/sign/minimumwage/

I’m not going to sugar coat it, raising the wage high enough to help bring families out of poverty is going to be an uphill battle. So we need all the help we can get, we need all the signatures we can get on this open letter to Congress, and we need all the voices raised we can get. Once you take action, can you paste this link on Facebook and Twitter? http://action.momsrising.org/sign/minimumwage/

Together, we are unstoppable. Together, we can make a difference for workers and their families.

P.S. Do you have an experience earning a minimum or tipped wage? If so, MomsRising wants to hear from you! You can share your story here: https://www.momsrising.org/member_stories/topic/share-your-experiences-on-the-minimum-wage-with-momsrising/.