Imagine that you are a high school student working at The Inside Scoop and you are trying to save money to buy a car. You don’t feel you are being paid enough. Recently, many are taking a stand on raising minimum wage.

Currently the federal level minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Obama has encouraged states to take action on raising minimum wage before Congress does. Some state minimum wages are already higher than the federal minimum.  A proposed federal bill, if passed into law, would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

Gap stores were among the first major companies to raise their employees’ salary to nine dollars per hour for this year and ten dollars per hour by next year.

Employees, specifically fast food and retail workers,  are starting to take a stand on the situation too. They’ve done so by going on strike and protesting in the streets. Although they take a strong stand some think they may have taken it too far, wanting to raise their minimum wage to $15 an hour.

“The cost of labor would go up, costing everyone more money for the same products and services,” said senior Josh Hellerick.

The last time minimum wage was raised was in 2009 going from $6.55 per hour to the current minimum wage of $7.25.

This creates a lot of controversy because some people may be on board, some may want a higher minimum wage but not that high, and some don’t want a change at all.

Business owners have to consider what is best for their business and their employees.

“As a business owner I feel that an increase would put more people on unemployment,” Kathleen Johnston, owner of Dance Works, said. “In today’s economy we cannot afford higher prices.”

High school students are affected too. Most students are only working part time because of school, but may need the extra money.

“As of right now, the minimum wage is perfect for a teen who only needs the money for their cars,” said sophomore Daniela Silva.

In the state of Pennsylvania, a bill has been proposed to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9 an hour by 2015.

While State Senator Christine Tartaglione seems to be in favor of the raise,  experts in economics think that this could lead to consequences that we can’t afford right now.

A nonpartisan analysis for the U.S. Congress by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates a possible loss of 500,000 jobs $10.10, while a smaller raise to nine dollars an hour could result in the loss of 100,000 jobs.

Along with this problem, there are other downfalls to an increase in minimum wage like increasing the poverty rate which most seem to think is the bigger issue.

However, supporters of the minimum wage increase say that it would allow familie, especially those already in poverty, to gain financial security.

Though many states have taken President Obama’s advice by proposing bills to raise minimum wage, the question remains whether Congress will take action.

“I think that if the current liberals and unions who are in office stay there, they will defeat the House and raise minimum wage,” said Chris Smith.