Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) opposes raising the minimum wage, but the Republican presidential candidate on Wednesday admitted that people can’t live off of jobs that pay only $10 or $11 per hour.
“I have the full confidence that the American private sector, made up of the most innovative and productive people on this planet, won’t just create millions of jobs. They will create millions of jobs that pay more. Because even the jobs that are being created now don’t pay enough. You can’t live on $10 an hour. You can’t live on $11 an hour,” he said during a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Wednesday.
“We need jobs that pay much more than that, but we have to have an economy and economic policies that make America the best place in the world to create jobs that pay more,” he continued.
When President Obama proposed raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 per hour during his 2013 State of the Union address, Rubio came out against a higher minimum wage.
“I want people to make a lot more than $9,” he said. “Nine dollars is not enough. The problem is that you can’t do that by mandating it in the minimum wage laws. Minimum wage laws have never worked in terms of helping the middle class attain more prosperity.”
Watch Rubio’s Wednesday remarks:
