Look How Much People Were Getting Paid When They First Started

We were taking a trip down memory lane yesterday after we heard about how much money 14-year-olds will be making at Darien Lake this summer to work.

Darien Lake is looking to hire 1,500 people for the upcoming season and this includes positions that will pay 14-year-olds $13.20 to BEGIN.

You can imagine that when that news came out, anyone over the age of 30 remembers how much they got paid when they first started working and it was a whole heck of a lot different from 13 dollars and 20 cents.

I remember when I first started working as a paperboy when I was 12, making something between 60 and 70 bucks a week seemed like an absolute gold mine! Shortly afterward I went to go work at McDonald's on the corner of Borden and French in Cheektowaga and I remember getting paid something just about 5 bucks an hour. Did anyone else think about how many hours they would have to work in order to afford something?

How much did you make when you first started working. We asked Facebook and Twitter this week, and before you take a look at WHAT JOB and HOW MUCH they were making, let's take a look at the jumps in minimum wage here in New York State.

October 1, 1960	Newly established general minimum wage set at $1.00
October 15, 1962	Increased from $1.00 to $1.15
October 15, 1964	Increased from $1.15 to $1.25
January 1, 1967	Increased from $1.25 to $1.50
February 1, 1968	Increased from $1.50 to $1.60
July 1, 1970	Increased from $1.60 to $1.85
May 1, 1974	Increased from $1.85 to $2.00
January 1, 1975	Increased from $2.00 to $2.10
January 1, 1976	Increased from $2.10 to $2.30
October 6, 1978	Increased from $2.30 to $2.65
January 1, 1979	Increased from $2.65 to $2.90
January 1, 1980	Increased from $2.90 to $3.10
January 1, 1981	Increased from $3.10 to $3.35
April 1, 1990	Increased from $3.35 to $3.80
April 1, 1991	Increased from $3.80 to $4.25
March 31, 2000	Increased from $4.25 to $5.15
January 1, 2005	Increased from $5.15 to $6.00
January 1, 2006	Increased from $6.00 to $6.75
January 1, 2007	Increased from $6.75 to $7.15
July 24, 2009	Increased from $7.15 to $7.25
December 31, 2013	Increased from $7.25 to $8.00
December 31, 2014	Increased from $8.00 to $8.75
December 31, 2015	Increased from $8.75 to $9.00

Now, the minimum wage in 2016 is split into different categories. There are separate minimum wages for New York City and then for the rest of the state. Then sub-categorized into fast-food workers and non-fast food workers. For sake of being simple, here are only the numbers associated with Western New York:

Non-Fast food workers minimum wage in WNY:

$9.70 per hour on and after December 31, 2016;
$10.40 per hour on and after December 31, 2017;
$11.10 per hour on and after December 31, 2018;
$11.80 per hour on and after December 31, 2019;
$12.50 per hour on and after December 31, 2020;
$13.20 per hour on and after December 31, 2021.

Fast food workers minimum wage:

[All figures are from the New York State Department of Labor]