Rent. Groceries. Gas for the car. Asthma medicine for your son. New shoes for your ever-growing little girl. It all adds up. And there are only so many ways you can stretch $15,080—the amount a mom working full-time earning the federal minimum wage makes in a year.

**This is why we need YOU to raise your voice in order to raise the wage! Take action TODAY and tell the U.S. Congress to raise the minimum wage to boost our economy and hard-working families. http://action.momsrising.org/sign/12by2020/

A $12/hour raise would make a big difference to our families. 37.7 million workers would benefit from this increase—75% of whom are moms! 37% of African American workers and 40% of Hispanic workers would receive wage increases.

Raising the minimum wage boosts our economy:

• A minimum wage increase to $12 would pump billions of dollars into the U.S. economy, benefiting Main Street businesses which are fueled by consumer spending.
• Workers who are both directly and indirectly affected by this bill would see over $100 billion in increased earnings over the next five years. Because low-wage workers tend to spend increased earnings locally and fairly immediately on basic needs, this will benefit our local businesses. Our economy is now primarily fueled by consumer spending and when people don’t have adequate funds to spend it hurts our overall economy.
• A recent study by UC Berkley’s Labor Center found that poverty level wages by employers cost U.S. taxpayers $152.8 billion each year in public support for working families who otherwise would not be able to put food on the table. By raising workers wages, less people will have to depend on programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps).

We need YOU to write Congress and tell them “Boost workers AND our economy by raising the minimum wage to $12/hr.”

We are at an important moment. Just today U.S. Senator Patty Murray and Representative Bobby Scott introduced the Raise the Wage Act, which does three important things for minimum wage workers:

• Raises the federal minimum wage to $12/hour by 2020
• Sets automatic increases starting in 2021 to keep pace with rising wages overall (so we don’t have to keep going to Congress to get a raise!)
• Gradually phases out the tipped wage, which has been frozen at $2.13 since 1991 (seriously!!)

Raising the minimum wage is gaining momentum! During the last election, four states (Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota) plus cities in California and counties in Wisconsin voted to raise the minimum wage. This has led to more and more of our families being able to lift themselves out of poverty, all while more money is getting funneled into the local economy.

Help us keep the momentum going! Write your members of Congress today and tell them to support the Raise the Wage Act! http://action.momsrising.org/sign/12by2020/

The current minimum wage is $7.25/hour. This is a wage that is forcing millions of families to live in poverty. And let’s be honest, the minimum wage just isn’t what it use to be. The value of the minimum wage has fallen sharply over the past forty-five years. Adjusting for inflation, minimum wage workers earn less today than they did in the late 1960s. That’s not ok!

It’s time to make our voices loud and clear and tell Congress to raise the wage! Write Congress today.

I’m not going to sugar coat it, raising the wage high enough to help bring families out of poverty and boost our economy 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 forward this email to your friends and family, and paste this link on Facebook and Twitter? http://action.momsrising.org/sign/12by2020/

Together, we are unstoppable. Together, we can make a difference for workers and their families. Together, we can raise the wage!