Thousands of working families have been lifted out of poverty thanks to legislation passed by Sen. Jack Walsh that continues to gradually increase Delaware’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025.
Under Senate Bill 15, Delaware’s base wage rose from $9.25 an hour in 2021 to $10.50 in 2022 and $11.25 in 2023. Another $1.50 increase will take effect on January 1, 2024, followed by a $1.75 increase in 2025.
Delaware’s previous minimum wage – set in 2019 – offered only a bare subsistence-level of pay for most low-wage workers, who were earning just $1,480 a month before taxes. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimated that the average 2-bedroom apartment in Delaware costs about $1,142 a month when Senate Bill 15 was passed, leaving minimum-wage earners with less than $84 a week for groceries, medicine, car insurance and other necessities.
The economic and social impacts of Delaware’s low minimum wage fell disproportionately on women and people of color. According to the Economic Policy Institute, nearly 60% of minimum-wage earners are women and nearly 50% are people of color.
Senate Bill 15 also put Delaware’s base-level on equal footing with its neighbors.
When Senate Bill 15 was signed into law, Delaware’s minimum wage was lower than the base wage required in four out of five surrounding Mid-Atlantic states, including New York ($12.50), New Jersey ($12), Maryland ($11.75) and Virginia ($9.50). Each of those states is also on track to reach a $15 an hour minimum wage by 2025.
