Mr. Speaker, there has been a nationwide campaign for raising the minimum wage across the country to $15 an hour, so it is not just an idea we suddenly had in the middle of the night. It is something people have been calling for and working for across the country.
I know that a figure of $18.93 sounds large, but again, as I stressed in my speech, that is just the amount for food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and child care. That is the amount each parent in a two-parent family would have to earn so that a family of four could live beyond poverty and participate in our society in the most basic way.
Yes, it sounds big. What we have said, as far as this motion is concerned, is that we would start with a raise to $12 and phase it in to $15 over five years. The economists show that when we do that, there is no effect in terms of job losses.