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City Studies

Hello, My Name is Minimum Wage

Minimum wage has been a hot topic since President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the first national minimum hourly pay in 1938. Over 75 years later we’re still debating the value of a paycheck. Is minimum wage enough to live on? Should the government keep increasing the current rate?

In the Spring of 2015, CUP Teaching Artist Jenn Anne Williams worked with Alhassan Sussu’s Economics class at the International Community High School in the Bronx to explore whether the government should be involved in income equality.

To investigate, students tried to balance a monthly minimum wage paycheck, went into the neighborhood to survey community members on their opinions, and debated the pros and cons. Students created puppets, collages, and drawings to illustrate the information in the accordion booklet that shares what they discovered.