WILLEMSTAD - 18-year-olds are allowed to vote, get their driver's license and drink alcohol, but they are not seen as 'adults' in terms of work. While they do the same work as adults. That is why the cabinet wants to lower the age limit of the minimum youth wage.
The youth wage now applies to younger employees aged 16 to 21. That should change next year. According to the Minister of Labor, someone from the age of 18 must count fully when it comes to his income. That's what she said yesterday at the press conference about the increase in the minimum wage.
The youth wage is considerably lower than the minimum wage for adults. An eighteen-year-old earns 75 percent less than people over the age of 21.