Los Angeles Becomes Latest U.S. City to Approve a $15 Minimum Wage The city council backed a plan to increase the minimum wage, by 2020.
By Jason Fell
Los Angeles has become the latest U.S. city to approve an increase to its minimum wage. The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 Tuesday in favor of raising the minimum wage from $9 to $15 by 2020.
Other cities to make similar wage increases include Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco.
LA's minimum-wage increase is expected to affect as many as 800,000 workers, the Los Angeles Times reported. The move will require a final approval next month by LA mayor Eric Garcetti. If given the green light, the the first wage increase to $10.50 per hour could take effect by July 2016.
Related: Are Small-Business Owners Immoral If They Pay Low Wages?
"That's a monumental change in wages," Jerry Newman, a professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Management, told the Los Angeles Times. "It's going to have both an economic impact and a social impact."
Other U.S. cities -- including New York City and Washington, D.C. -- also are considering proposals for minimum-wage increases to $15 per hour.
Related: Entrepreneurs Are Forgotten in the Minimum Wage Debate
