Many blue states now have minimum wage laws of as high as $15 an hour. We’ve long argued that states should establish a TEENAGE minimum wage that is closer to about $5 or $6 an hour. These are starter jobs that teach kids at an early age how to work and earn a paycheck.

About half of OECD countries have a lower starter wage for teens, and a few years ago a comprehensive study found “both the relative employment and labor force participation rates of individuals below the age of 25 are about 10 and 12 percentage points higher, respectively, in countries with youth minimum wages, as compared to countries with uniform minimum wages.”

Unfortunately, few of the high minimum wage states allow a lower rate for teens.  This means many states require businesses to pay $15 an hour or more to teens, effectively pricing them out of the workforce:

California is $20 an hour for fast food restaurants.

Here is the latest 2025 data on state minimum wages and teen unemployment.

This handy chart from Fox Business shows the abnormally high teen joblessness in the high minimum wage states: