Raise Maryland is working to raise Maryland’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 by 2016, then index the wage to inflation. Myth: Raising the minimum wage will cause job loss. FACT: Raising Maryland’s minimum wage will create an estimated 1,600 jobs. Source: Economic Policy Institute; How Raising Maryland’s Minimum Wage Will Benefit Nearly Half a Million Workers and Modestly Boost the State’s Economy, January 2014. Myth: Raising the minimum wage will hurt the economy. FACT: Increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour will inject approximately $456 million into Maryland’s economy. Source: Economic Policy Institute; How Raising Maryland’s Minimum Wage Will Benefit Nearly Half a Million Workers and Modestly Boost the State’s Economy, January 2014. Myth: Raising the minimum wage will hurt small businesses. FACT: 71 percent of low wage earners work for companies with 50 or more employees, not small businesses. Walmart is the largest low wage employer both in Maryland and nationwide. Source: National Employment Law Project. Myth: Tipped workers don’t need a raise - they make tips. FACT: Maryland’s minimum wage for tipped workers is currently just $3.63. Tipped workers are more than twice as likely (and waiters almost three times as likely) to fall under the federal poverty line. Source: National Employment Law Project. Myth: Most minimum wage workers are just teenagers working entry-level jobs. FACT: Nearly 87 percent of workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour are at least 20 years old. Nearly one-quarter are parents and almost half have some college experience. Source: Economic Policy Institute; How Raising Maryland’s Minimum Wage Will Benefit Nearly Half a Million Workers and Modestly Boost the State’s Economy, January 2014. Myth: Maryland can’t afford an increase in the minimum wage. FACT: Maryland is the wealthiest state in the country, but we are leaving low-wage workers behind. 21 states – and the neighboring District of Columbia – already have minimum wages that are higher than Maryland’s, which is currently set at the federal minimum. Myth: $10.10 is too much. FACT: If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation over the last 40 years, it would be $10.70 per hour today. Source: National Employment Law Project. Raise Maryland is a diverse coalition of community, labor, immigrant, civil rights and faith organizations united to pass a statewide minimum wage increase indexed to inflation. (301) 458-0533 | 7338 Baltimore Ave., College Park, MD 20742 | www.RaiseMD.org