Letter to the Editor: What’s the bottom line on minimum wage increase?

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Pats tackle Solder healthy at voluntary team activities

I would like to see the minimum wage raised.I am not an economist but have studied a few paycheck stubs in my time.Fred Aherns, in a May 4 letter to the editor, cites a Chicago Federal Reserve study saying that a $1 increase in the minimum wage will result in $2,800 increase in annual household spending. That comes to $53.80 more in my weekly net pay. At $7.25, I earned $290 per week. At $8.25, I&#8217;m at $330, so I must must put in a little over an hour to get to my Federal Reserve target of $343 per week. And that&#8217;s taking home my gross!How many hours must I work to pay my deductions (taxes, FICA) in order to still take home my $343 ? How many hours does the study assume I work? How many hours will be available at the higher wage?I&#8217;m long on hope but short on faith in studies and statistical projections.Joseph A. FabianNanticoke