As most students who work know, our current national minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.
President Obama called on Congress during the 2014 and 2015 State of Union Addresses to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 nationwide.
Being high school students, most of us that work earn minimum wage. With this increase, a student working 15 hours a week would earn $42.75 more.
That’s $171 more per month, and $2,052 more per year.
That additional money could be saved for community or four-year college.
Today, the minimum wage provides about 20 percent less than it did in 1981, while prices have clearly continued to rise.
Raising the current federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour would pull roughly 2 million Americans out of poverty while benefitting our country’s economy according to David Cooper, a reporter for the Economic Policy Institute.
By boosting the bottom line of businesses, the earnings of millions of Americans (including most high school students) would greatly increase.
I would personally benefit greatly by this increase by being able to save money for college, since I am a part-time employee making minimum wage working as a restaurant hostess.
This proposal especially helps young workers whose parents may not be able to fully provide for them or their family. Some students have to have a part time job to help provide for their family, with no savings for any higher education or future plans.
And, once students move on to community or four-year college, this increase would continue to help make college more affordable as many college students are able to work as many as 30-40 hours per week.
If Congress is against making community college free as President Obama encouraged, then they should at least raise the minimum wage as a means to help young people afford college.