Governor Phil Murphy

Statement from Governor Murphy on the Need for a $15/Hour Minimum Wage

01/1/2019

As we celebrate the start of a new year, New Jersey’s minimum wage workers are getting a 25 cents an hour raise to $8.85 an hour.

But this raise isn’t worth celebrating. For a full-time worker, that raise will amount to only $500 more across the entire year – $2 a day – not enough to lift them or their family from poverty, and not enough to spur economic growth.

I have been working with the Legislature to raise the minimum wage statewide to $15 an hour and hope we will be able to get this done early in the new year. When we do, our working families will have a 2019 worth celebrating.