As of Labor Day, the minimum wage in Michigan has risen from $7.40 to $8.15 an hour.
And the minimum wage will continue to increase, as scheduled in legislation passed in May. By January 1, 2016, it will be $8.50, and the wage will be $9.25 an hour by January 1, 2018.
The advocacy group Raise Michigan petitioned for the minimum wage to gradually increase to $10.10 an hour by 2017, but failed to get enough signatures to make the ballot.
MSU economics professor Charles Ballard said he would have supported the Raise Michigan initiative if it had been successful.
"If it had been on the ballot, the move to $10.10, I would’ve voted for it," Ballard previously told The State News. "It’s on the edge of the (highest) range I’d be comfortable with.”
Students could see positive effects of the increase, especially those who work in food service, in any position involving tips.
Students in these jobs are guaranteed to eventually earn the full minimum wage by 2018, and will see increases of $.85 per year from the $2.65 an hour they are now being paid hourly as tipped workers.
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