Every Thursday, seniors Emily Cuneo and Caroline Kiddie anxiously await their weekly check from the Village Market. After working long hours all week, they are astounded by the low number on the paper. “It’s usually a lot lower than I think I deserve!” Cuneo said. “We do a lot for the money we get, and this is what I’m getting for it. Even though we’re only working for minimum wage, we have a lot more responsibility than people think. It’s ridiculous.”

  Although the minimum wage in Massachusetts, $8.00, is far higher than the federal minimum wage, $7.25, the low pay is still disappointing, and could be devastating for Scituate’s working class. “For teenagers for your very first job minimum wage is acceptable, but for adults trying to support a family it’s not,” senior Lauren Williams, employee of the Barker Tavern, said. The estimated living wage in Scituate, meaning the wage at which people are able to support themselves and maintain a normal standard of living, is $12.62 for 1 adult living alone. As the number of family members in the household increases, so does the living wage. If a person in Massachusetts in a single income home is attempting to support themselves, they will face difficulties in maintaining a normal standard of living, especially if they have other dependents in the household.

Kiddie agrees. “I work with adults at the Village Market and they obviously struggle, even though they work really hard. At minimum wage, they have to get multiple jobs and it’s difficult to get by. As a teenager, I make the same as a 40 year old with 3 kids. It doesn’t make sense.”

    Because of the significant discrepancy between the minimum wage in Massachusetts and the living wage, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick has proposed a plan to increase minimum wage to $9 an hour this July, $10 an hour in 2015, and $11 an hour in 2016. In 2016, the minimum wage will automatically be indexed to inflation rates, so it will rise incrementally each year. The bill also provides for tipped employees to be paid half the minimum wage. While this still fails to meet the estimated living wage in Scituate, this plan will bring minimum wage closer to the living wage in Massachusetts.

The last time minimum wage increased in Massachusetts was 2008, at which point the Commonwealth adjusted minimum wage for inflation and increased living expenses. In his last term in office, Patrick has vowed to raise minimum wage to reflect the needs of Massachusetts residents. In November, the proposed plan passed overwhelmingly in the State Senate. Now, the bill goes to the House. They will probably vote on the plan later this year, and with an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress, the bill is likely to pass.

   What does this mean for the working teens of Scituate? If the bill passes in the Senate, Cuneo’s and Kiddie’s weekly wage will increase. “We’re getting older too, and we’re growing up with minimum wage,” Kiddie said. “I’m planning on keeping my job at Village Market during college, so that’ll definitely help a lot. A higher minimum wage will allow us to be independent from our parents at a younger age and be able to provide for ourselves, and that’s just a really good feeling.”