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According to a report by the State of New Jersey Minimum Wage Advisory Commission, as of July 24, 2009, the Federal Minimum Wage will increase to $7.25 per hour.  New Jersey’s minimum wage workers will automatically receive the new federal level.

However, neither the current $7.15 nor the July 2009 wage increase to $7.25 are adequate to maintain the purchasing power that this wage level commanded in October 2006.

Some quick facts:

• The overall cost of living in New Jersey is higher than the national average by a factor ranging from 27.6 percent to 35.9 percent above the national index, while housing costs range on average from 55.8 percent to 78.4 percent higher than the national average.

• New Jersey’s current minimum wage of $7.15 is barely sufficient to maintain a single-parent family of two above the poverty line in 2008 and is insufficient for larger family sizes with a single wage earner. Unless the minimum wage is indexed annually to maintain its purchasing power, many households headed by minimum wage workers will soon fall below the poverty line.

Read the full Minimum Wage Advisory Commission Report .pdf