Need to get this off my chest

My husband just graduated from college and is now an entry electrical engineer. When he was doing the internship he was getting paid $10 an hour. Two years later, they raised his pay to $21 an hour. He works for a really good engineering firm and the lowest pay for an entry engineer is from $28-$36 an hour in our area. Well when he went to work and gave the director and HR proof that he graduated (btw he graduated suma cum laude) they told him they were going to get in touch with him to discuss the new pay. We patiently waited for a couple of weeks and this past Friday they sent him an email stating that they're extremely happy with the work he is doing and that they're pleased to raise his pay to $23 an hour. Obviously we thought there was some kind of mistake but they confirmed that they meant what the email said. The guys whom he graduated with are being paid $30+ so it feels very unfair and insulting. And after all that hard work of completing his degree for a "better life" 😒 My husband is often told to train other older engineers in the job who get paid $60+ because they don't know how to work some of the programs even after working there for several years. They all love the work he does and they know how hard he works to learn and be able to do an exceptional job. Also, we haven't been doing well financially. We were counting on that promotion to finally feel a little relief in our bank account. Lately Everything just seems to be working against us. Our water bill is usually around $78 but this month it came at $240 and we are clueless as to why it came so high. But because of this bill (along with all of our other medical bills) we will have to go one more month without groceries because we'll be left with nothing. Also, I was laid off of my other job so I'm currently applying and waiting impatiently for an interview. We haven't eaten much in order to make food last, which will only last to another 3-5 days. This morning I woke up crying because I dreamt that one of the cabinets in the kitchen was completely full of food and I was so excited because I was able to make breakfast without worrying if I would have enough for tomorrow 😔 I'm just really hungry and want to eat a proper meal and want things to go back to how they were. Anybody else was or is in this similar situation? 
UPDATE: thank you for the replies and advice!! My husband today kindly offered them to reconsider his pay according to what statistics show an entry engineer should get paid. If they refuse this, he will apply at another company who are currently hiring. 

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