5 Reasons LGBT People Need a Raise!

In February, Walmart announced that it would be raising its base minimum wage to $10.00 per hour. This would give about 500,000 workers a raise and would rise to nearly meet the proposed federal minimum wage of $10.10, which President Obama just ordered be paid to federal contract workers.  While this is a step in the right direction, it is important that we motivate other employers to do the same by passing a federal minimum wage. Many reports have already made it clear that women, single mothers, and the working poor will benefit from a hike in the minimum wage, but here are a few reasons why the LGBTQ community has a stake in it as well.

1. The gender gap affects lesbian couples twice. Partnered LGBTQ couples raising children are twice as likely to experience poverty. 14.1% of lesbian families utilize food stamps, compared to 6.5% of heterosexual couples. While gay and bisexual men earn less than heterosexual men, as women, lesbians experience an even larger penalty in pay.

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2.  African-American same sex couples are twice as likely to experience poverty than heterosexual African-American couples. Paired with the pay deficit that African-Americans experience in general, this, like with lesbian couples, hits multiple times increasing their likelihood of poverty.

3. LGBTQ couples raising children are three times more likely to be living on the poverty line.Between discrimination in the workplace and the availability of marital privileges, LGBTQ families are far more likely to live in poverty.

4. Gay men suffer a wage penalty compared to heterosexual men.Gay men are often seen as effeminate or weak, making them less likely to receive a raise in wages, or are assumed to not have a family and therefore a lower cost of living. Male singles and male couples are both more likely to be poor than their heterosexual counterparts.

5. Transgender people are four times more likely than the general population to make under $10,000 a year.Even within likelihood for lower wages, transgender women often see their wages fall after transitioning. Transgender people are more likely to experience harassment and discrimination from work, which lends itself to higher rates of unemployment and decreased upward mobility.

An increase in the federal minimum wage will pull millions of American workers out of poverty and increase their quality of life. As they are affected in a myriad of ways, members of the LGBTQ community in particular stand to benefit greatly from this past-due reform.

Data from A Broken Bargain and LGBT Workers and the Minimum Wage.