On Jan. 1, 2016, 14 states received a higher minimum wage. In Michigan, the wage was raised from $8.15 to $8.50. However, the minimum wage for minors is still less than the adult minimum wage, despite the raise.

“The pay just changed and it really isn’t a big deal,” Taco Bell employee sophomore Walker Alling said. “It did not change by much so it did not affect me as much as others.”

Before the increase, Alling received $7.25, the minimum wage for minors in Michigan. Now he receives $8.15 which is higher than the minimum wage for minors, but less than the state minimum wage of $8.50.

“I am 14, and I have been working at McDonald’s for two months,” freshman Joe Furca said. “ I get paid $7.50 an hour because I am a minor so I legally can be paid only 85 percent of the minimum wage.”

“I noticed a small change in my pay after the first of the year,” Furca said. “I started to get $0.25 more than I originally earned per hour.”

Employees like Furca and Alling receive a minor minimum wage, however, employees who are 18 or older can be paid the definite minimum wage of $8.50 only.

In Michigan, the minimum will change again in 2017. It will be raised from $8.50 to $8.90 and the minimum wage for minors will be raised to $7.57.