Teens rally for youth job funding
Min. wage hike threatens to cut available jobs
More than 300 teens marched from the Boston Common through Downtown Crossing to the State House last Thursday in a demonstration calling for more funding for summer jobs and an increase in the age at which criminal defendants can be charged as adults.
For Jazmarie Ayala, a Henderson Upper School freshman, her job as an organizer with the group I Have a Future is not just about gaining skills. It’s about paying the bills.
“I see my mother struggling,” she said. “I need to support her.”
Teens march along Washington Street, seeking an increase in funding for youth jobs. BANNER PHOTO
This year, state funding for youth jobs is facing a hurdle, as the state’s minimum wage has increased from $11 an hour to $12 an hour. Ayala and other youth organizers are calling on the Legislature to increase its allocation for summer jobs to at least $15 million, a bump up from last year’s allocation of $12.8 million, to keep pace with the rising wages. In his budget, Gov. Charlie Baker proposed an increase to $14.4 million.
“This year, we’re happy so far,” said Adiel Pollydore, a lead organizer with I Have a Future.
“Charlie Baker’s budget is progress. We hope the House and Senate can do better. There are still young people who would like access to jobs.”
The rally brought out teens from across the state, with groups from Worcester, Lawrence, Chelsea, Revere and Somerville bused in to the State House. State Rep. Liz Miranda and U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley fired up the crowd before they began their march from the Parkman Bandstand on the Common.
“At age 13, I lied to get a summer job,” Miranda told the crowd. “Can anyone guess why I lied? Because I needed the money.”
Pressley said that she, too, had to work as a teenager to help her mother.
“I had my first job at the age 14, not as an extracurricular activity, but because the rent wouldn’t be paid if I didn’t,” she said.
After rallying on the Common and marching, the teens gathered in the State House before dividing into groups and meeting with legislators and staff to press for summer job funding and for raising the age at which youth are charged as adults to 20 from the current 18.
Vante Correia, a junior at City on a Hill Charter School, said teens who run afoul of the law need services, rather than to be locked up with adults.
“The mind of a person doesn’t really fully develop until they’re in their 20s,” he said. “For people 20 and below, they should get the same type of services a 15-year-old gets. Their records should be sealed.”
