The current period of high inflation that has significantly impacted the U.S. economy will also influence a New Year's tradition: The annual state minimum wage increases.

By Jan. 1, hourly minimum wages in 23 states will rise as part of previously scheduled efforts to reach $15 an hour or to account for cost-of-living changes. The increases account for more than $5 billion in pay boosts for an estimated 8.4 million workers, the Economic Policy Institute estimates.

Additionally, nearly 30 cities and counties across the U.S. will increase their minimum wage, according to the EPI, a left-leaning think tank.

The larger-than-typical increases for a dozen states come after inflation hit a 40-year high this summer, leaving families struggling to keep up with the rising costs.

"The fact that there's high inflation really just underscores how necessary these minimum wage increases are for workers," said Sebastian Martinez Hickey, a research assistant at the EPI. "Even before the pandemic, there was no county in the United States where you could affordably live as a single adult at $15 an hour."

The pandemic and the subsequent period of economic recovery has further revealed the growing chasm in America's wealth gap. During the past two years, working conditions and low pay contributed to a swelling of labor movement activity and actions by many large corporations to raise their wage floor.

The pandemic also led to a structural upheaval in the nation's labor market, creating an imbalance of worker supply and demand that still persists. Employers have found themselves short of workers for most of the year, which has pushed up average annual hourly wages in the battle to recruit and retain staff. While some workers in competitive industries such as retail and dining have found their new salary outpaces inflation, most pay has been outpaced by rising prices.

"The story is different because wages have been increasing at the low-end, much faster than inflation and much faster than in middle- or high-wage jobs," said Michael Reich, economics professor at the University of California at Berkeley. "And that means that many workers, even in the $7.25 states, are already getting paid above the minimum wage."

In other words, he said, the minimum wage "has become less and less binding."

"Even though minimum wages might go up by 7%, in many states and cities, labor costs aren't going to go up anywhere as much as they have in the past, because they already have gone up," he said. "That also means that prices aren't going to go up at [places like] restaurants."

The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour hasn't budged since 2009, and 20 states have a minimum wage either equal to or below the federal level, making $7.25 their default baseline. The value of the federal minimum wage peaked in 1968 when it was $1.60, which would be worth about $13.46 in 2022, based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator.

States with scheduled minimum wage increases on Dec. 31, 2022, or Jan. 1, 2023

• Delaware: $10.50 to $11.75
• Illinois: $12 to $13
• Maryland: $12.50 to $13.25
• Massachusetts: $14.25 to $15
• Michigan: $9.87 to $10.10
• Missouri: $11.15 to $12
• Nebraska: $9 to $10.50
• New Jersey: $13 to $14.13* (scheduled increase also includes inflation adjustment)
• New Mexico: $11.50 to $12
• New York: $13.20 to $14.20 (Upstate New York); $15 (in and around NYC)
• Rhode Island: $12.25 to $13
• Virginia: $11 to $12

Cost of living increases of state minimum hourly wages:

• Alaska: $10.34 to $10.85
• Arizona: $12.80 to $13.85
• California: $14.50 (firms with 25 or fewer employees) /$15 (firms with 26+ employees) to $15.50
• Colorado: $12.56 to $13.65
• Maine: $12.75 to $13.80
• Minnesota: $8.42 to $8.63 (small employer); $10.33 to $10.59 (large employer)
• Montana: $9.20 to $9.95
• Ohio: $9.30 to $10.10
• South Dakota: $9.95 to $10.80
• Vermont: $12.55 to $13.18
• Washington: $14.49 to $15.74

Later in 2023:

• Connecticut (effective July 1): $14 to $15
• Florida (September 2023): $11 to $12
• Nevada (effective July 1): $9.50 to $10.25 (firms that offer benefits); $10.50 to $11.25 (no benefits offered)
• Oregon: $13.50 (effective July 1, indexed annual increase to be based on the CPI)

Sources: State websites, National Conference of State Legislatures, Economic Policy Institute

With New Year's comes resolutions, and experts say a few simple tips can set a person up for success — no matter what they want to change.

The suggestions come from the University of Pennsylvania's "Behavior Change for Good," a first-of-its-kind collaborative study identifying what motivates people the most to develop regular workout habits.

"The methodology to me is also part of what's so neat about the work, because it shows a different way of doing science that might allow us to gain insights about human behavior change much faster and more efficiently than we ever have before," Dr. Katherine Milkman said.

The study partnered with 24 Hour Fitness and scientists all over the U.S. to test 54 different versions of a digital exercise motivational program at once.

Gym guests set a workout plan and were sent text reminders and other various motivations to work out. Some also got points that transferred into small cash rewards at Amazon — about 22 cents per visit to the gym.

Overall almost half of the interventions increased gym visits by 9% to 27%.

The top motivator was awarding extra points to a person for coming back to the gym the day after a missed workout. Milkman doesn't think an additional 9 cents at Amazon inspired the extra motivation.

"It's drawing your attention to the idea that you don't want to have a series of misses. OK, we're gonna all slip up and miss one of our planned gym visits here and there. It's probably inevitable. But don't let it accumulate," she said. "That turned out to be really impactful, which I think is fascinating, and it's something we can all internalize. Like, OK, sometimes I'm not going do the thing that I want to do, but don't let that ever happen twice. Never twice in a row."

Other top motivators to keep people coming back to the gym were:

• Social pressure — reminders of factual information about more Americans exercising 
• Temptation bundling — when people did something fun while working out, like listen to an audiobook or watch a TV show
• Setting reminders to workout
• Not giving up after a setback, or not missing more than two days in a row

Milkman said there are other techniques to help keep resolutions in the new year.

"Meditating regularly, getting to bed at a reasonable hour, staying off your smartphone — you can use that strategy in all of those areas," she said.