The idea of “no taxation without representation” is a big part of American history. To take money from hard-working people without giving them the opportunity to dictate how it is used is inherently wrong. Early Americans knew this and it was one of the driving factors in starting the American Revolution. However, taxation without representation is still prevalent today.

There are approximately 5.1 million employed minors in the US that pay salary taxes just like anyone else, but are not afforded the right to vote just because of their age.

Qualities such as civic knowledge and political interest have been researched and compared between young teens and those over 18 years old, and no difference has been found. Young people can be just as knowledgeable and intuitive about political topics as older people. Their opinions on certain topics may be different from the opinions of their elders, but that doesn’t mean their opinions are wrong and that doesn’t mean their opinions shouldn’t be heard, especially when their money is being taken by the government to enact policies they may not agree with.

The fact that such a large portion of our population has no say in how the government spends their money is a huge issue. And we can solve this issue by implementing a simple solution:

If someone under the age of 18 is employed and paying a salary tax, they should be allowed to vote during the period of time that they are employed. If they become unemployed while still under 18 they lose the right to vote, unless they were employed for a period of six months or more. I think this is a fair balance because it only affords the ability to vote to minors who either remain employed and continue to pay taxes, or were employed for a substantial amount of time and have already paid a lot of money in taxes.