When Cal State Long Beach senior kinesiology major Mabelle Denuna first heard about the California minimum wage increase to $9 per hour, she said her first thought was, “It’s about time.”
Denuna, who is a full-time student, and works as a lifeguard at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center, said that any increase in pay will help a long way, especially for her living expenses and rent.
“A dollar increase will help tremendously,” Denuna said. “I didn’t think about prices rising because just that dollar increase can go a long way.”
Denuna said that she receives an average of 20 hours a week at work, and a paycheck period is every two weeks. After the state minimum wage increase, she said she now earns an additional $80 per month, compared to her previous wage of $8 per hour.
As of July 1, the basic minimum wage for the state of California was set to $9 per hour, an increase of one dollar. The last time the state minimum wage rate increased was in 2008, when it rose from $7.50 to $8, according to the State of California Department of Industrial Relations.
The California minimum wage is set to increase again on January 2016 to $10, according to the State of California Department of Industrial Relations.
A study conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau showed that students aged 15 to 49 who were enrolled full time at a university or college from 2008 to 2012 spent a majority of their time working, doing educational activities and sleeping within 24 hours. 8.6 hours were spent on sleeping, 3.4 hours on educational activities and 2.7 hours where spent on work and work-related activities.
Roughly 45 percent of undergraduates in 2007 worked full-time jobs while enrolled full time, and 80 percent worked part time while enrolled full time in school, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. The report also indicated that there has been a steady increase in students who are juggling jobs that require 20 to 30 hours per week since 2010.
While Denuna is excited to have extra money in her pocket for rent or splurging, others like graduate student Nate Phung said the increase came later than expected.
“As a student worker, any wage increase is greatly appreciated; however, it comes as too little too late because it tails the inflating cost of living,” he said.
Phung, who is a sales associate for CSULB’s convenience stores, said that although the increase occurred later than expected, he was still content about it.
“I was excited because it meant more cash in my pocket, and I see it as a positive change because it provides the help that people in minimum wage jobs really needed,” Phung said. “I see that employers and companies need to learn how to manage their assets better; a company, after all, is nothing without [its] workers.”
Senior biology major Thuy Vu Lam, who works at an office part time, said that she is concerned that an increase in California’s minimum wage will be cancelled out by a rise in prices.
“I think the minimum wage increase seems beneficial because it seems minimum wage today is not enough for someone to support themselves with,” Lam said. “So to increase the wage is beneficial, but I feel like maybe as a result prices will even out the minimum wage, kind of cancelling out the wage increase purpose, [but] hopefully that isn’t the case.”
I don’t really see their comments as ‘mixed outlook’. All three of the students questioned agreed that the increase was a beneficial thing.