On February 12, President Obama signed an executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal workers to $10.10 per hour. In his remarks before the signing, President Obama discussed how increasing wages would be good for the nation’s economy overall. “This will be good for America’s bottom line,” he said. “[Raising the minimum wage] is not just good for the economy – it is the right thing to do.”

President Obama signed the executive order while a group of minimum wage federal workers looked on – symbolic of the people the order will help the most.  The President expressed his commitment to fight for raising the federal minimum wage for all workers, saying that “in the wealthiest nation on earth, no one should have to live in poverty.”

Raising wages for federal workers is a step in the right direction, but it shouldn’t stop there – we hope that President Obama’s hard work will encourage Congress to raise the federal minimum wage for all workers.

In his speech, President Obama also mentioned the launch of myRA, a “starter” retirement savings account that will help Americans without access to 401(k) or other retirement savings options to begin to prepare for retirement. However, many argue that without raising the federal minimum wage for all workers, many Americans are unable to feed and clothe their families, much less put money away into a retirement savings account.