Pursuing policies based on these values has resulted in tremendous progress for our nation, particularly for America's working families. Raising Incomes One of the President's most basic beliefs is that no one who works hard and plays by the rules should live in poverty.
Work needs to pay.
That is why the effort to increase the minimum wage was so important in 1996 and why it is so important today as we seek another increase. In addition to increasing the minimum wage, the Administration worked in other ways to increase family income. We dramatically expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, which in 1998 lifted 4.3 million people out of poverty, twice as many as in 1993. And the 1998 bipartisan Work Incentives Improvement Act will allow millions of Americans with disabilities to take jobs without fear of losing their Medicare or Medicaid coverage. Improving Skills Hand in hand with the push for decent wages is the effort to provide workers with the skills they need to get good jobs in today's economy.