Senate Bill 3 was signed into law in California on April 4th. Senate Bill 3 will increase the minimum wage a dollar per year until the year 2021 when it reaches 15 dollars. From that point forward, the minimum wage will be tied to inflation. Although the bill is mostly targeted towards making ends meet for low income families, the wage increases will affect teenagers too.

According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Labour Statistics, in 2014 15% of employed teenagers (ages 16-19) earned minimum wage. Additionally the U.S Federal Bureau of Labour statistics states that teenagers work an average of 23.5 hours per week. Assuming that a teenager worked at minimum wage for the whole year after the minimum wage was increased, they would earn about $1,222 more dollars per year. For reference, prom cost teens an average of $919 in 2015, according to a Visa study, and that $1,222 would be in addition to the 12,220 that student would regularly earn on minimum wage. Of course teens don’t all work 23.5 hours a week and don’t work every single week, but for those working minimum wage there will be a 10% increase in annual salary. Since this is annual though, it still means saving up for prom could take a while.