PA Increases Inmate Wages in State Prisons By 20 Percent

PENNSYLVANIA — Wages for imprisoned individuals in Pennsylvania have been increased 20 percent for 2023, the Department of Corrections announced, a move praised by civil rights activists and which draws further attention to the overall state's stagnant position on minimum wage.

The Pennsylvania Prison Society, an advocacy nonprofit, says the change is a direct result of prisoners writing to the group expressing concerns about skyrocketing prices at commissaries.

“The raises will relieve some of the burden of commissary price increases that far outpaced inflation in the outside world,” the Society's executive director, Claire Shubik-Richards, said in a statement.

The Department of Corrections did not issue a public announcement about the change.

Hourly wages now range from $0.23 to $0.50 for most jobs, the Society says. That's up from a minumum of $0.19. These meager earnings cover basic needs not provided by the prison, such as clothing, toiletries, medications, medicals visits, phone calls, emails, and letters home.

With inflation reaching historic levels, prisons were no isle unto themselves. The Department of Corrections hiked prices 26.7 percent in the fall of 2022.

The move brings Pennsylvania within the minimum pay range for inmates established by most states. Only Mississipi ($0.20) and Oklahoma ($0.14) are lower.

Still, advocates say the wage increase is not enough.

“It doesn’t quite keep up with the DOC’s massive markups," Shubik-Richards added. "And DOC wage levels overall remain problematic."

The Society is also pressuring the Department of Corrections to reopen prison dining halls so that prisoners have access to nutritious food.

Low wages in the Keystone State's correctional facilities reflect the reality of minimum wage outside the prison's walls.

While the minimum wage for regular citizens rose in 23 states and Washington, D.C. on New Year’s Day as new laws and updated wages took effect, Pennsylvania's 63,800 minimum wage workers saw no change. Despite inflation and scores of studies demonstrating that minimum wage does not get most people out of abject poverty, Pennsylvania's minimum wage remains at $7.25 an hour, with a tipped wage of $2.83 an hour.

"The gap between us and other states keeps growing, it's apparent," Gov. Tom Wolf said last year, calling it "an insult to Pennsylvania workers."

In 2020, Gov. Wolf proposed a graduated raise of the wage in Pennsylvania, which would have seen the minimum bumped to $12 an hour last year, with small increases each year until $15 was reached in 2026. He made similar formal proposal seven times while he was in office, and legislation was introduced every year. It never made it far in the Republican dominated legislature, which has consistently eschewed the effectiveness of the idea and argued it would harm the economy.

But other states have not taken economic blows after raises, and, meanwhile, typical workweeks are nearly impossible for those looking to obtain basic shelter in the Keystone State. More than 100 hours a week are required in some areas for individuals making the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows.