“The federal minimum wage, which applies in Oklahoma, has been stuck at $7.25 for six years. It has been eroding in value even longer, falling by 30 percent since 1979 when adjusted for inflation. Stagnant low-end wages leave a growing number of working families unable to afford their basic needs and fuel growing income inequality. It also means more families have to turn to public supports like Medicaid and food stamps to get by, amounting to a huge subsidy of low-paying employers by American taxpayers.”

– Executive Director David Blatt, writing on the need for a minimum wage hike in his Journal Record column (Source)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carly Putnam joined OK Policy in 2013. As Policy Director, she supervises policy research and strategy. She previously worked as an OK Policy intern, and she was OK Policy's health care policy analyst through July 2020. She graduated from the University of Tulsa in 2013. As a student, she was a participant in the National Education for Women (N.E.W.) Leadership Institute and interned with Planned Parenthood. Carly is a graduate of the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits Nonprofit Management Certification; the Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council’s Partners in Policymaking; The Mine, a social entrepreneurship fellowship in Tulsa; and Leadership Tulsa Class 62. She currently serves on the boards of Restore Hope Ministries and The Arc of Oklahoma. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and doing battle with her hundred year-old house.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.