My alarm goes off every weekday morning at 6 a.m., so I can make sure my teenage son gets ready for school. Other people are already at work all over Lewiston-Auburn and unfortunately for many, when their alarms go off they get up to go to work for employers who only pay them minimum wage.

They are often working two or three jobs taking care of seniors and people with disabilities, or working in clerical jobs or serving meals – and they, too, have families and children to get off to school.

On Oct. 1, the first of two 25-cent increases in the minimum wage went into effect, and they will bring Maine’s minimum hourly wage from $6.50 to $7. But even with this increase, almost every state in New England will be ahead of Maine’s minimum wage by Jan. 1, when there will be an additional increase in Massachusetts. New Hampshire, which still uses the federal minimum wage of $5.15, is the only state that allows employers to pays its workers less. There, minimum wage workers annually earn more than $3,000 less than here in Maine.

There is an added expense to the rest of our community when employers pay the minimum wage. When work fails to pay enough, it means the rest of us need to pay more – whether by supporting subsidized housing, food stamps or medical expenses. To put it into a local context, 41 percent of school children in Androscoggin County received free or reduced-price lunches last year.

The reality is that increasing the minimum wage helps working families, seniors, working women and single mothers, despite the common misperception that this issue only impacts teenagers. According to recent U.S. Census data, about 70 percent of workers who earn the minimum wage are older than 20, and 62 percent of all minimum wage earners are women.

I have often heard Gov. John Baldacci say that the best social welfare program is a good job. I agree. That is one of the key reasons why I support this increase in the minimum wage. This increase translates into about $500 more a year for full-time workers. While this may not seem like much, for those working to get by on the minimum wage it is a step in the right direction that will make rising gas prices and home heating oil more affordable.

We all feel a sense of pride when we see a sign or hear the words, “Maine, the way life should be.” Increasing the minimum wage helps to make sure that is more likely to be true for working Mainers. In the end, that’s what matters, making sure we all have the opportunity to support our families.

There are days when 6 a.m. comes too soon and we all don’t want to get up to go to work. Imagine how much harder it is to get up every day, go to work and still live in poverty. I am thankful to live in a state where our governor imagined himself in that person’s shoes and did something to help out our neighbors.

Rep. Deborah Simpson, D-Auburn, serves as the House chair of the Judiciary Committee and represents part of Auburn.