Raising the minimum wage reduces the availability of these entry-level positions
Raising the Minimum Wage to $9 Would Harm Most Vulnerable Job Seekers
James Sherk
April 12, 2013 at 1:00 pm
When the price of something rises, people—both consumers and employers—purchase less of it. Americans responded to the higher cost of gas by driving less. Businesses similarly respond to higher minimum wages by hiring fewer low-skill workers. The vast majority (85 percent) of the most reliable economic studies find that raising the minimum wage reduces employment.
Liberals often respond by arguing that the benefits to the workers who get the raise nonetheless outweigh the costs to those who get laid off (or never get hired in the first place). These arguments miss the primary value of minimum-wage positions—they provide on-the-job training for unskilled and inexperienced workers. They teach workers basic employability skills, from the discipline of getting up for work on time to how to interact with customers. As workers gain experience and skills, they become more productive and command higher pay. That is why two-thirds of minimum-wage workers earn raises within a year. The minimum wage is a learning wage, the first rung on many workers’ career ladders. A higher minimum wage saws off this rung.
Raising the minimum wage reduces the availability of these entry-level positions. This makes gaining the skills necessary to get ahead harder. States that raised their minimum wages in the 1990s saw workers earning less a decade later.
Worse, higher minimum wages particularly hurt the most disadvantaged. Most minimum wage workers are between the ages of 16 and 24—many teenagers and college students working part-time. These youth employees are secondary earners; their average family income exceeds $65,000 a year.
Increasing the minimum wage encourages more teenagers and college students to apply for minimum-wage jobs—the higher pay makes working more attractive. These new workers crowd-out adult applicants. Even the studies that find that minimum wage hikes have small overall employment effects find very large substitution effects: Companies hire many more teenagers and many fewer adults.
But teenagers do not need the work experience nearly as much as the disadvantaged adults do. A higher minimum wage makes it more difficult for the most vulnerable workers—those adults who do support themselves on minimum-wage jobs—to get hired and move up.
The President may have good intentions, but raising the minimum wage would make it harder for disadvantaged workers to get ahead.
I’m a liberal. I don’t care what the actual results are based on laws that I advocate, I only care that the laws make me feel good about myself and how generous I am with other people’s money.
Minimum wage today is actually lower than in the 1960’s when you factor in inflation.
Let the market determine wages. Everytime the government gets involved it screws things up. If you don’t offer a high enough wage, nobody will work for you. If its a brainless job, then perhaps the brainless should attend some schools and learn a bit to become more employable. The reality is that many ‘minimum wage’ jobs have disappeared so the manufacturer could make a cheaper product overseas with cheap labor. Those who are remaining here will be forced to shut down and buy from overseas if they want to be competitive. Its a vicious cycle.
On the other end of the spectrum, union contracts gave their workers high wages and generous benefits……………UNTIL manufacturers smartened up and moved their production offshore.
Alway convenient to cherry pick statistics that support your position.
The truth is that the minumum wage today is equal or greater that the inflation adjusted minimum wage SINCE ITS INCEPTION, EXCLUDING the 1960s and 1970s.
Today’s minumum wage equals or bests the inflation adjusted minimum wage from its inception in 1938 through 1960 AND from 1980 through present day.
So, today’s minimum wage is equal or better than the inflation adjusted mimimum wage for (approx) 75% of the time that the minimum wage has been in effect.
But those arguing for an increase are basing it on an inflation adjusted rate that was in effect for on 25% of the time that the minimum rate has been in effect.