WS Chronicle

By Jess Schnur 

Since 2009, the North Carolina minimum wage has stagnated at $7.25 per hour despite the continuously increasing cost of living. Now, as of March 2025, two proposed bills have been presented to the North Carolina House of Representatives and the Senate that aim to raise the wage above this national standard.  

According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator, there is currently a massive disparity between the current minimum wage and the calculated living wage in the City of Winston-Salem. For an individual living on their own with no children, the poverty wage is cited at $7.52 per hour, with the living wage estimated to be $20.34 per hour. For two-person households with no children on a single income, the poverty wage is calculated at $10.17 per hour, while the livable wage is $28.50. The trend continues to demonstrate that continuously, except in the instance of a dual-income household with no children, the state minimum wage remains below the calculated poverty wages across the board.  

The Fair Minimum Wage Act, also known as Bill H353, is a proposition for the state legislature to incrementally increase the minimum wage over the next five years. The Bill states that it seeks to “delete the provision requiring wages of at least $6.15 per hour and instead requires a minimum wage of (1) $10.00 per hour, effective Jan. 1, 2026; (2) $12.00 per hour, effective Jan. 1, 2027; (3) $14.00 per hour, effective Jan. 1, 2028; (4) $16.00 per hour, effective Jan. 1, 2029; and (5) $18.00 per hour, effective Jan. 1, 2030. Each of the provisions states that if the minimum wage in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act is higher than the stated new minimum wage, that the rate specified in the Fair Labor Standards Act is the state minimum wage. Starting Jan. 1, 2031, and annually thereafter, requires the Commissioner of Labor to adjust the minimum wage using the described consumer price index to take effect on the following Jan. 1.” 

The bill further expands the liability of employers who violate the notice, records and positing outlined provisions by ensuring the recovery of lost wages, benefits, interest and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs for their employees who were not properly compensated.  

The Economic Security Act, or Bill H339/S326, seeks to increase the state minimum wage to $22 per hour, while also extending the reach of this minimum wage to tipped employees, therefore eliminating the $2.13 per hour tipped minimum wage. The bill also offers an extensive variety of different workplace protections, such as securing paid sick leave for employees, including safety requirements for heat exposure on job sites, and reinstating the Earned Income Tax Credit, to name a few. 

To get a better idea as to how this state increase in minimum wage could have an impact on the local community, The Chronicle spoke with the Executive Director of the Asset Building Coalition of Forsyth County, Vivian Perez Chandler, to gain insight into what these bills could mean for the people of Forsyth County.  

The Asset Building Coalition was formed as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2019 with the mission of raising awareness about the issues of asset poverty within Forsyth County. “Asset poverty is a condition when an individual, family or household does not have savings to cover basic expenses for three months if their income were to be interrupted,” explained Chandler. “So essentially, living paycheck to paycheck. We look at different ways to educate leaders and decision makers about how to ensure that we’re looking at those root causes of financial instability.”  

Three factors can impede an individual’s financial stability, according to Chandler: having low-to-no debt from accessibility and affordability within housing, healthcare, education, and insurance; whether small businesses and jobs are set up in high-value locations; and, most prominently, an individual’s income. 

“Twenty-four percent of households in Forsyth County are living in this asset poverty,” said Chandler. “And so, if folks are able to earn living wages, what that would mean is we would decrease that number of households living in asset poverty and kind of being closer to becoming financially stable.” 

Chandler highlights one of the most predominant issues facing Forsyth County as housing affordability. Pushing for the state minimum to meet the livable wage standard could help individuals minimize these struggles. 

“We know that housing affordability is one of the most challenging and pressing needs for our community right now. And it has been for a while. And so being able to make living wages would improve those living standards because folks are having to rent less quality rental units, because of the high cost of it,” said Chandler. “It would have greater impacts on families being able to be more present in their children’s lives and education because they’re earning better wages, so they don’t have to spend so much time in having to get two to three jobs to be able to make ends meet. Improving living standards could dramatically impact or have could impact someone’s ability to thrive, but also recognizing that from our perspective, $22 is still not enough … $24 [is the calculated minimum livable wage for 2020-2022].” 

However, with proposed raises in the minimum wage, Chandler emphasizes the importance that legislation further upholds the other benefit areas that could be minimized to account for the shift. Specifically in the instances with the proposed bills, Chandler explains the necessity of balancing wages with the welfare of employees. This refers to what is known as a “benefit cliff,” where a pay increase can diminish or eliminate benefits currently being received.  

 “I think it’s important to look at when wages are increased, and in this case with [these] bills, that we also need to take into consideration the different threshold limits that are with those public benefits, specifically, to not see benefit cliffs, because if we’re increasing it to $22, what does that mean for our community members who are receiving public benefits and who have to rely on those public benefits? Because getting a 50-cent pay increase or $1 pay increase may actually make them financially unstable. And so, as we look at passing one, I think we also need to look at the other. So, it’s these benefit thresholds, specifically with the childcare subsidy, which seems to be the greatest need in our community. 

“If we had more funding, we could support more families in our county. Although, again, there is huge support already for these. And there are so many other trickling down or domino effect things that happen. But I think to avoid a domino effect of wages that are being increased, we also need to take into consideration the different thresholds that have been set in place at the federal level for all of these other public benefits that exist, because we wouldn’t want to create better wages, but then families be at a disadvantage financially, because of now this new mandated wage increase.” 

Despite harboring doubts that these bills may come to fruition, there remains hope: organizations and advocates continue to push for the importance of paying a livable wage to employees. The Asset Building Coalition, for example, provides a Forsyth Living Wage Employer Certification Program, which serves to recognize local businesses and other organizations that pay their employees a locally calculated living wage.  

“I think that it’s important to look at these different bills, not just from the lens of the business side, but also the actual people that will be impacted by wage increases, which are our community members, our employees,” said Chandler. “So, let’s not forget the other side of the people who are actually going to be impacted, rather than just focusing on the business’s side.” 

Data sourced from the Living Wage Calculator, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT): https://livingwage.mit.edu/metros/49180