N.Y. needs to raise minimum wage.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

New York should act now to increase its minimum wage. Increasing the New York state minimum wage would benefit well over I million New York workers. And these aren't just teenagers. Three-fourths of the beneficiaries would be adults, and many of those are their families' main breadwinners. Increasing the minimum wage is an important piece of the strategy to combat poverty by making work pay.

Both the New York state and federal minimum wages are currently set at $5.15 per hour. Some argue that increasing the state minimum wage above the federal level would put New York at a competitive disadvantage relative to its neighboring states.

This argument ignores the …