KENTUCKY (WKYT) - Research by the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy shows Kentucky’s minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is below the poverty line.

The article from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy says it’s been 16 years since Kentucky raised the minimum wage, and inaction has left thousands of Kentuckians earning poverty wages due to the increased price of food and housing.

“Now for the first time in our history, a full-time minimum wage worker who works year-round would earn below the poverty level,” said Dustin Pugel, the Policy Director for the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. “Ultimately, increasing the minimum wage would need to be an act of the General Assembly. There are senators, including Lexington’s Reggie Thomas, who have filed bills to do just that.”

Senator Thoma

See Full Page