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Title: ELCA Advocates for Raise in Minimum Wage ELCA NEWS SERVICE April 15, 1996 RAISE MINIMUM WAGE "The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America advocates for a raise in the minimum wage," said Kay A. Bengston in a March 27 press statement. Congress defeated proposals to raise the federal minimum wage 90 cents on March 28. Bengston is assistant director for public policy advocacy, Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA), Washington, D.C. "This church is committed 'to adequate income and believes that vast disparities of income and wealth are both divisive of the human community and demeaning to its members,'" she cited ELCA documents. "Unfortunately, the United States has the largest wage gap of any industrialized country," she added. "Moving welfare recipients into employment is hindered in a labor market increasingly dominated by low-wage, part-time or temporary jobs that cannot support a family," said Bengston. "Sixty-nine percent of minimum wage workers are adults, and women comprise 60 percent of minimum wage workers." Bengston urged members of Congress to approve an increase in the minimum wage, and referred to findings of a January survey that 83 percent of the respondents support a minimum wage of $5.15 instead of $4.25 per hour. For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service, (312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia Christiansen, Asst. Dir., (312) 380-2956