With the minimum wage in Connecticut set to increase by 69 cents on January 1, 2024, some residents said they are looking forward to it while others said they oppose it. 

A maintenance worker and student at Central Connecticut State University, Liam Delaney, said that it is hard to save his money because what he makes only covers his school bills and some groceries.  

“What I make in a month is usually enough to be able to pay off what I owe the school and whatever is left over I try to save up,” Delaney said. “Or I use it to buy some light groceries like a gallon of milk to have in the fridge.”

Delaney said that he supports the increase and that it would benefit him economically. 

“Even just talking in the small term, college is stressful, life is stressful, and it’s a very stressful world,” Delaney said. “Having a little bit extra to just spend on something that I enjoy would be something I’d appreciate.” 

Jake Warner, a seasonal worker for Dairy Queen in North Haven, said he also supports the increase in minimum wage but is too small to make a negative impact. 

“I don’t think it would necessarily not benefit me,” Warner said. “It’s only a few cents. I can’t see it negatively impacting me or anything.” 

Warner said that the increase would make more of a difference if it was a bigger rate. 

“I feel like it’s decent,” Warner said, “but I feel like it’s not that big of a raise to make that big of a difference. If it was a dollar raise or even a couple dollars it would make more of a difference.” 

Scott Krantz, a former owner of a bagel shop in Avon, said that he does not agree with increasing minimum wage in the state because it will cause inflation to rise. 

“I think a lot of companies are going to start reducing staff,” Krantz said. “Then they are going to start raising their prices to compensate.” 

Krantz said that he owned the shop with his family in the 1980s when things were cheaper and minimum wage was very low. 

“I remember that as selling a dozen bagels for $2.40,” Krantz said. “Obviously the cost of supplies back then were a lot cheaper, [the] wage was a lot cheaper, and this goes back to the 80s.” 

Krantz said that when the business closed, he tried reopening with his brother-in-law and was unable to stay open because of this. 

“There got to be a point where I reopened with my brother-in-law,” Krantz said. “There got to be a point where, as a small business, we couldn’t survive.” 

 Jacob Schwall, a gym owner from Meriden, said he is also against increasing minimum because of rising inflation in the state. 

“If you were to walk into a coffee shop and your pumpkin spiced latte is $3.50 every time,” Schwall said. “Now that the minimum wage has gone up and the market has gone up, that pumpkin spiced latte that you used to buy for $3.50 is $5.” 

Schwall said that fewer people are now willing to spend their money because of this and it affects people in different economic classes. 

“This affects the economy from the low class to the middle class,” Schwall said. “Now we can’t afford as much groceries as we could a few years ago.” 

Schwall said there is no point in raising minimum wage because it will cause things like groceries to become more expensive, making things unaffordable for people.