Raised wages leading state in right direction

Being college students, it’s pretty easy to clean your pockets out and get slapped in the face with the big overdrawn fee month after month.

However, Kentucky seems to be paying attention to the hard economic times — not only for the simple college student, but for the rest of the state as well — and raising the minimum wage from $6.55 to $7.25. While it’s not the biggest wage raise in the world, when it comes to counting nickels and dimes, every little bit helps.

While many continue to lose jobs and search aimlessly in a job market that has no openings, people are finding alternative jobs, sometimes where they could possibly be making minimum wage. Not to mention, the cost of living in this horse-loving state seems to go up by the day.

“This increase is significant for many Kentucky workers who, like others, have been struggling during these difficult economic times,” said J.R. Gray, Kentucky’s Labor Secretary, of the recent vote to increase Kentucky’s minimum wage.

Another plus, Kentucky seems to be genuinely concerned with helping its residents stay afloat during the financial crunch.

While the change in the minimum wage rate at the federal level does not go into effect until July 24, the Kentucky General Assembly decided to allow those receiving a paycheck to see the changes starting July 1.

Overall, this is a step in the right direction. It’s probably accurate to say some people reading this very edit can remember the days when minimum wage was under $3.50, but those days are long gone.

Minimum wage for tipped employees isn’t changing from the current $2.13, but with that extra 70 cents in your pocket, maybe you could afford to spare a little change.