“Child-care workers have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. But a new report finds that raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour could benefit more than half a million employees. 

“The progressive Economic Policy Institute estimates that if the federal minimum wage is gradually increased from $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour by 2025, roughly 560,000 workers in the child-care sector will benefit. 

“Prior to the pandemic, workers earned an average of $11.65 in 2019, an hourly wage that covers basic living expenses in just 10 states, according to the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley.

“Wage increases would primarily benefit women and minorities since 95% of child-care workers are women and 36% are Black or Hispanic.” 

— “About 560,000 child-care workers would benefit from increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour,” by Megan Leonhardt, CNBC, June 9, 2021