CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS FILE PHOTO BY JERRY NOWICKI
Gov. JB Pritzker holds a shirt commemorating the motion to boost the minimal wage to $15 after signing the invoice on Feb. 20, 2019. After a six-year ramp up interval, the minimal wage reached its peak of $15 as of Jan. 1, 2025.
The minimal wage in Illinois has elevated to $15 an hour as of Jan. 1, finishing a six-year transition interval for the reason that improve was authorized in 2019.
Illinois staff making minimal wage will see wages rise by $1 and tipped staff will see their paychecks bump to $9 an hour. Youth staff underneath 18 who work fewer than 650 hours a 12 months can have a $13 minimal wage.
The ultimate improve, ending a six-year ramp which started with the minimal wage rising from $8.25 to $9.25 on Jan. 1, 2020, places a bow on Gov. JB Pritzker’s first main legislative victory. He signed the wage improve in February 2019 a few month after being sworn in for his first time period, checking off a prime marketing campaign promise.
“Since day one among my administration, I’ve made it my mission to construct an financial system that works for everybody and elevating the minimal wage to $15 an hour fulfills that promise to our working households,” Pritzker mentioned in an announcement. “This improve honors the employees who energy our state and ensures they’ll higher assist their households, bringing us nearer to a stronger, extra equitable financial system for all.”
Illinois shall be one among 10 states with a minimal wage of $15 or better, in accordance with the National Employment Law Project. Twenty-two different states are additionally growing their wages on Jan. 1.
The minimal wage improve is one among many financial modifications which have occurred since 2019, together with results of the pandemic, Illinois Chamber of Commerce CEO Lou Sandoval informed Capitol Information Illinois. He mentioned these have precipitated companies to regulate their operations in quite a lot of methods, similar to growing automation.
“I believe you’re beginning to see companies pivot by way of how they’re adjusting,” Sandoval mentioned. “You’re seeing this on the nationwide chains.” Some eating places, for instance, are “transferring away from bigger sit-down areas into grab-and-go.”
Illinois job development has been sluggish since October 2019, in accordance with a November report by the Fee on Authorities Forecasting and Accountability. The state has seen a web improve of 28,700 jobs from October 2019 by way of October 2024.
That’s a development fee of 0.5%, in comparison with the nationwide fee of 4.9%.
The speed of latest job postings by companies originally of the 12 months will shed some mild on how the soar to $15 on Jan. 1 is impacting enterprise operations, Sandoval mentioned.
To assist small companies with the change, the state gives a tax credit score by way of 2027 to companies with 50 or fewer workers for wages paid to minimum-wage staff.
The 2019 minimal wage regulation marked the primary improve for the reason that wage hit $8.25 in 2010. Senate Majority Chief Kimberly Lightford, D-Westchester, launched a invoice to boost it to $15 an hour in 2017 that was handed by the Normal Meeting and vetoed by Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner. Lightford sponsored the initiative once more in 2019.
“As a state, now we have helped numerous staff make ends meet, cut back monetary stress, and supply a extra stable basis for his or her futures,” Lightford mentioned in an announcement. “The $15 minimal wage is a testomony to our dedication to financial justice and our perception that everybody who works full time deserves a dwelling wage.”
The worth of a $15 minimal wage, nevertheless, has modified since lawmakers acted in 2019. An individual making $8.25 in February 2019 would want to earn $10.30 as we speak to have the identical shopping for energy after inflation, in accordance with the Shopper Worth Index. A $15 hourly wage as we speak has the shopping for energy that $12.02 had in February 2019. An individual would want to make an $18.72 wage as we speak to have the identical shopping for energy that $15 had in February 2019. Prime Democrats didn’t say if they may push for brand new will increase.
“As a Senator of 25 years, historical past has proven my dedication of combating to make sure staff are paid a dwelling wage. That dedication nonetheless holds robust as we speak,” Lightford mentioned in an e mail assertion.
Pritzker mentioned he helps concepts that may assist staff make more cash, however didn’t decide to supporting any plan to boost the minimal wage additional when pressed about it at a information convention Dec. 11.
“We all the time are fascinated by how do you steadiness the necessity for greater wages with the wants that companies have to rent individuals and do it affordably. However I believe we did it the precise means once we did it again in 2019,” Pritzker mentioned.
The brand new $15 wage equates to a 40-hour-per-week annual wage of $31,200 earlier than taxes. That equals the federal authorities’s poverty stage for a four-person family. The poverty stage is $15,060 in a single-person family.
However in accordance with calculations in a nationwide mission by the Massachusetts Institute of Expertise, $15 hourly nonetheless doesn’t equate to a “dwelling” wage in Illinois, based mostly on U.S. Census Bureau price of dwelling and different price estimates supplied by federal companies adjusted for inflation.
A single grownup with no youngsters wants a $22.86 hourly wage to make a dwelling wage in Illinois, whereas a two-parent family with two working adults and three youngsters would every must earn $31.69. In a two-parent family with one working grownup and one little one, the employee wants $36.49 to make a dwelling wage, in accordance with the MIT mission.
Inflation is making it onerous for staff to learn from wage will increase, Sandoval mentioned, including rising wages additionally trigger companies to boost costs.
“They may get the wage improve on one facet, however their price of dwelling goes up accordingly,” Sandoval mentioned.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan information service that distributes state authorities protection to a whole lot of stories retailers statewide. It’s funded primarily by the Illinois Press Basis and the Robert R. McCormick Basis.
