On Monday at the stroke of midnight, the minimum wage for tipped and non-tipped workers in Ohio will increase.
The minimum wage in Ohio will go up by $0.35 per hour for non-tipped workers starting Monday to $10.45 an hour. Tipped workers will get a $0.20 boost to $5 and $0.25 an hour in 2024.
The state's minimum wage has increased every year since 2006 when Ohioans passed a constitutional amendment to raise it over time.
But some say the increase isn't nearly enough
Advocates for the poor say, even with the increase, it’s still not a living wage. They point out that the average two-bedroom apartment in Ohio runs from $600 to $1,300 a month, depending on the location. That means it would take working at least two 40-hour weeks at the new minimum wage to earn enough to afford an apartment in the least expensive area of Ohio and more than three weeks to earn enough to get such an apartment in a more expensive Ohio city. And in many cases, there is a shortage of affordable housing.
Efforts underway to increase it
A coalition of groups has been working to put a $15 an hour minimum wage proposals before voters in 2024.
Some politicians, like U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) have advocated for a $15 an hour minimum wage in the past. So it is likely to be an issue that's brought up in the U.S. Senate campaign this fall, as Brown is up for re-election.
