Raising the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour would make it more difficult for many teens to get or keep jobs, in addition to the employment challenges they faced during the pandemic, many economists say.
Democrats want to increase the federal minimum wage in steps to that level by 2025, from $ 7.25 per hour. Most states have already set a higher minimum wage. The plan would also eliminate a minimum wage for young people that allows companies to pay fewer teenagers in the first 90 days of work.
The changes would increase millions of workers and lift some out of poverty, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a study. But it also found that about 1.4 million workers would lose their jobs in the next four years, many of them teenagers. “Less educated young people would be a disproportionate share of these cuts,” a February report on the minimum wage proposal said.
Adolescents had much higher unemployment rates than the global labor force during the pandemic. The unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds reached almost 32% in April 2020 – more than double the pandemic peak for an overall unemployment rate of 14.8%. Both rates eased, but adolescent unemployment remained high at 13.9% in February, compared to an overall unemployment rate of 6.2%.
Lauren Gimple, 17, worked at a bakery in Powell, Ohio, earning almost the minimum wage until she hit the pandemic. The salary in Ohio is $ 8.80 per hour. She said she left work because some family members had compromised her immune system, a risk factor for developing a severe Covid-19, but she plans to return when her family is vaccinated.