Editor's note: This article was written by a Townsquare Media Northern New England contributor and may contain the individual's views, opinions, or personal experiences.

When I was growing up in Massachusetts, the minimum wage was $8.00.

I remember working my wage up to $10 or even $12 and being really satisfied with that wage. By the end of my senior year of high school, I think I was up to around $14 or $15.

Then, I went to college in New Hampshire and went back...big time. I went lower than my first rate ever.

I was making $7.25/hr when I was 18-20 years old.

The minimum wage in New Hampshire has been $7.25 since 2009.

"That is the federal minimum, and it is $3/hr less than the minimum wage in any surrounding state," according to an Upton and Hatfield LLP article." According to the New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Bureau, roughly 11,000 New Hampshire residents (about 1% of the workforce) make minimum wage or less, but "approximately 144,000 employees (21% of the workforce) make less than $15/hr."

In Massachusetts, the state’s minimum wage will rise from $14.25 to $15 an hour on Sunday, January 1, 2023, according to a Boston 25 News article. "The increase will mark the last of five annual increases laid out in legislation passed in 2018."

New Hampshire hasn't raised their wages since when again?

2009.

Is it time?

New Hampshire is the 11th most expensive state to live in, according to Missouri Economic and Research Information Center.

So why the heck is the state minimum wage still $7.25? That is the federal minimum.

Being in Massachusetts my whole childhood, I feel like I heard a lot of controversy around minimum wages. There were constant battles to raise the wage over and over.

Since being in New Hampshire since I was 18, even though I was only making $7.25 at school to start, I never heard many complaints. There has not been as much commotion around the minimum wage debate in the 603. Why?

What do you think? Should we go with higher wages, or is what we got going working for the Granite State?

Perhaps it teaches us 603ers to work hard? Or is that just an excuse?

Let me know what you think.

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