The minimum wage jumped 70 cents today, to $5.85 per hour. After two more hikes, it'll reach $7.25 in 2009. Let Justice Roll, a coalition of faith, labor and community groups, fought hard for the increase, the first in a decade. The group has also organized efforts to pass minimum wage increases or living wage laws in 21 states, from New Hampshire to California. Their work is indispensable to the movement to end poverty in America.

Progress is always worth rejoicing over, but we need to keep in mind that $7.25, let alone $5.85, isn't a living wage for even a small family. The minimum wage hike will put money directly into the pockets of the working poor, but not enough to lift them out of poverty (see table 1.1 in the linked report). Until we ensure that every job provides a living wage, we're effectively legislating poverty.

I've seen the effects of an inadequate minimum wage. When I was a teacher, one of my colleagues and I bought a winter coat for an 8th grade student after I saw him wearing a t shirt and no jacket on a 35-degree November day. His mother had a full-time job cleaning a hospital, but she could not afford to keep her rapidly growing son warm through the winter. It is sad and outrageous that we tolerate such deprivation in a nation as wealthy as ours. We can't relent in the effort to end poverty, even on a day of good news.