Rochester, N.Y. - Every day is a struggle for workers like Kimberly Riley. The 26-year-old mother has two children and supports her family, earning minimum wage.
Riley also goes to school full-time. "It's stressful, especially at the end of the day..." Kimberly tells 13WHAM.
She supports an increase in the minimum wage, which if approved by state lawmakers, would increase from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour next year.
While some employers agree minimum wage is not enough, they also worry that a 17 percent increase would force them to raise prices or cut jobs.
Researchers at Cornell University and other universities found that the last increase, resulted in lost jobs for workers between the ages of 16-29.
Fina Burroni sees both sides of this issue. She remembers earning minimum wage and how it was never enough money.
But as an employer, she also sees the concern for businesses. Burroni already pays her four workers more than minimum wage. But she says she would have to re-think that if she had a lot of workers on the payroll.
She owns Fina's Restaurant and Coffee shop on Mills Street in High Falls.
Mary Falzone Pickering works at Fina's. She supports an increase in minimum wage.
Pickering says she believes an increase would be an incentive to get people to work harder.
At Panini's Restaurant on East Main Street, Stephen Hockey has perfected the sandwich he's been making since he was 12 years old.
Hockey agrees that the minimum wage isn't enough, but also worries that if it goes up, especially by this much, it would force businesses like his to raise prices.
He says customers would end up paying the price of such a hike.
Even if is approved, the increase would not take effect until next year.
