The financial precarity of the hourly workforce has been at the fore of collective conversations this year, with 19 states instituting wage hikes in 2019. Last month, New Jersey lawmakers agreed to increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2024, and national lawmakers have proposed a similar commitment with the Raise the Wage Act of 2019, which would gradually raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 in the same timeframe (though its likelihood of success is low).
