ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Reuters) - Democratic White House hopeful John Kerry (news - web sites) proposed on Friday raising the minimum wage to $7 by 2007, a hike he said would allow struggling families to pay for 10 months of groceries or eight months of rent.
His plan to phase in an increase of $1.85 an hour would most benefit women, an important constituency in the Nov. 2 presidential election, his campaign said.
"You put in a week's work, you ought to be able to take care of your family," Kerry told an invited audience at Northern Virginia Community College. "You ought to be able to pay your bills."
The hourly minimum wage, which has not changed from $5.15 since 1997, is a long-standing Democratic issue. Raising it is a key goal of labor unions, most of which closed ranks behind Kerry when he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination in March and their favored candidate, Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt, dropped out.
President Bush (news - web sites) would be willing to consider any "reasonable" proposal that phased in a minimum wage increase over an extended period of time, provided it would not place unreasonable costs on small businesses, campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said.
The Republican incumbent, campaigning on recent positive economic news and the creation of 1.2 million jobs since the start of the year, has sought to portray Kerry as a pessimist who talks down the economy and would raise taxes.
"George Bush wants to say to people 'Isn't it terrific, aren't things rosy,"' Kerry said. "But our economy is not working for the average American. I believe we can do better. I'm an optimist. We're the can-do country."
WOMEN WOULD BE HELPED
A report prepared for the Kerry campaign by nine labor experts said that 61 percent of the 15 million direct beneficiaries from a minimum wage hike would be women.
Eileen Appelbaum, a Rutgers University labor economist, told reporters Kerry's proposal would translate into more than $3,800 a year in extra income for a minimum wage earner.
"If you're down at the bottom of the labor market that can make a real difference to families struggling to put food on the table, struggling to pay the rent," Appelbaum said.
Kerry called an increase in the federal minimum wage long overdue. He said it had fallen further and further behind the cost of living, and the impact of the last increase had been entirely eroded by inflation.
"It's time to remember a basic truth -- a stronger America begins right here at home," he said. "Today, there are workers, many of them working women, struggling to get by on the minimum wage. That's wrong."
After a pair of fund-raisers in Washington, Kerry was heading for the Atlantic sailing resort of Nantucket where he hoped to try his hand at kite surfing and spend time with his family.
The relatively new watersport, which Kerry told reporters had "a steep learning curve," harnesses the power of a kite for water skiing or surfing -- in the latter's case, eliminating the need for waves.
The Massachusetts senator's wife Teresa Heinz Kerry -- a philanthropist and heiress to the $500 million family ketchup fortune -- owns a three-story, five-bedroom waterfront retreat on Brant Point in Nantucket.
Surrounded by tall hedges with a spacious deck and a lawn that meets the beach, the multimillion dollar estate was the site of the couple's wedding in May, 1995.