The minimum wage in Arkansas is being raised to $10/hr January 1, as part of a voter-approved ballot initiative to raise the wage to $11/hr by 2021. Arkansas voters backed the minimum wage increase by enormous margins. In the 2018 election, the ballot initiative garnered 68.6 percent support statewide.

“Arkansans are getting a raise this year and that’s a good thing. In most areas of Arkansas the minimum wage is not entry level, it’s the standard level of pay for many positions. If a person is working hard for 40 hours a week making about $1,600 a month there’s not a lot, if anything, left over after paying for their housing, car, groceries, healthcare, and childcare. Many families often have to choose one or two of those bills to leave unpaid. For some this raise in pay will mean spending more money at local small businesses and for others it will mean they can keep their heat on this winter,” said Chairman Michael John Gray. “Arkansans went to the polls and voted in overwhelming numbers for this. Despite efforts by some lawmakers to repeal the new minimum wage, it went into effect, and we are all better off for it.”