Raising the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour would make it more difficult for many teenagers to get or keep jobs, adding to the job challenges they faced during the pandemic, many economists say.
Democrats want to raise the federal minimum wage in stages up to that level by 2025, from $ 7.25 an hour. Most states have already set a higher minimum wage. The plan would also eliminate a minimum wage for young people, which allows companies to pay teenagers less during 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 studies. But he also found that about 1.4 million workers would lose their jobs in the next four years, many of them teenagers. “Young people, with less education, would be responsible for a disproportionate share of these reductions,” said the agency in a February report on the proposed minimum wage.
Teenagers saw unemployment rates much higher than the overall workforce during the pandemic. The unemployment rate for those aged 16 to 19 reached almost 32% in April 2020 – more than double the pandemic peak for an overall unemployment rate of 14.8%. Both rates decreased, but adolescent unemployment remained quite 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 a minimum wage until the pandemic. Ohio’s wage floor is $ 8.80 an hour. She said she quit her job because some family members have a compromised immune system, a risk factor for the development of severe Covid-19, but plans to return when her family is vaccinated.