PORTLAND, Maine - A coalition of children's advocates is going to work to raise the state's minimum wage, which voters will consider on the November ballot.
At a press conference Friday that included the Maine Children's Alliance, Every Child Matters and the Central Maine YWCA drew a link between low wages and childhood poverty.
Melissa Stevens of Lewiston says when her children were very young, she was in an abusive relationship.
"But I knew that if I left, with the skills and opportunities that I had, I wouldn't be able to make ends meet. So that by leaving abuse, I was throwing them into poverty."
Stevens did become a single mother, and she worked a variety of jobs to make ends meet - and she says her family struggled to find equilibrium at her pay scale. Working as a waitress, she says, a couple once tipped her by leaving a Bible verse at the table.
"And my landlord doesn't accept Bible verses, nor does the electric company or the grocery store. Parents can't survive on tips, we need one fair wage."
Opponents of the ballot measure say it would actually reduce wages for tipped workers, such as waiters and other restaurant staff. The measure would raise the state's minimum wage from the current $7.50 an hour, to $12 an hour in 2020.