The $ 15 an hour minimum wage can spike teenagers’ employment further

Raising the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour would make it more difficult for many teens to get or keep a job, adding to the employment problems they faced during the pandemic, many economists say.

Democrats want to incrementally increase the federal minimum wage to that level by 2025, from $ 7.25 an hour. Most states have already set a higher minimum wage. The plan would also do away with a sub-minimum wage for young people, allowing companies to pay teens less during the first 90 days of work.

The changes would raise millions of workers and lift some out of poverty, the impartial Congressional Budget Office said in studies. But it also found that about 1.4 million workers would lose their jobs in the next four years, many of them teenagers. “Young, low-educated people would account for a disproportionate share of those cuts,” said a February report on the minimum wage proposal.

During the pandemic, teenagers saw much higher unemployment rates than the total workforce. The unemployment rate among people between the ages of 16 and 19 was nearly 32% in April 2020 – more than double a pandemic peak for an overall unemployment rate of 14.8%. Both rates have declined, but the teen unemployment rate remained well high in February at 13.9%, compared to an overall unemployment rate of 6.2%.

Lauren Gimple, 17, worked in a bakery in Powell, Ohio, earning nearly minimum wage until the pandemic hit. Ohio’s pay floor is $ 8.80 an hour. She said she left the job because some family members have compromised the immune system, a risk factor for developing severe Covid-19, but wants to return when her family is vaccinated.

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