Raising Minimum Wage Will Kill Jobs and Increase Prices of Goods and Services. Many arguing against raising the minimum wage point to potential job losses that will result from businesses absorbing the costs of having to pay employees more.
Minimum wage behaves as a classical price floor on labor. Standard theory says that, if set above the equilibrium price, more labor will be willing to be provided by workers than will be demanded by employers, creating a surplus of labor, i.e. unemployment.
Minimum wage mandates aren't free. They force employers to make difficult decisions and tradeoffs. When government forces wages up, non-wage pay goes down: Workers get less paid time off, shorter breaks, higher insurance premiums, and fewer perks. Some workers lose their jobs.
According to the report, increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 will do a lot of good: Lift 900,000 people out of poverty. Raise income for 17 million people (one in 10 workers), to the tune of $509 billion over 10 years. Potentially increase wages for another 10 million people who currently make close to ...
On April 4, California Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 3 into law. The new law increases the minimum wage to $15 per hour by Jan. 1, 2022, for employers with 26 or more employees.
Additionally, the Order guarantees the $15 minimum wage for federal contract workers with disabilities and restores minimum wage protections to outfitters and guides operating on federal lands (revoking President Trump's Executive Order 13838, “Exemption from Executive Order 13658 for Recreational Services on Federal ...
Purpose of the Minimum Wage
The purpose of minimum wage laws is to prevent employers from exploiting desperate workers. The minimum wage should provide enough income to afford a living wage. That is the amount needed to provide enough food, clothing, and shelter.
The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not changed since 2009. Increasing it would raise the earnings and family income of most low-wage workers, lifting some families out of poverty—but it would cause other low-wage workers to become jobless, and their family income would fall.
Raising the minimum wage does not kill jobs. Leading economists have found that increases in the minimum wage have no discernible effect on employment, including employment in high-impact sectors like restaurants and retail. ... Raising the minimum wage increases consumer spending and boosts the economy.
Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour would increase wages for 17 million U.S. workers, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Another 10 million additional workers earning slightly above $15 per hour would be affected.
SAN FRANCISCO, California, April 28, 2000 – Increasing the minimum wage would do little to boost the income of California's poorest families — and it may even add to their cost of living, according to a new study released today by the Public Policy Institute of California.
Child-Tax Credits
Making the increases permanent for lower-income families offers an alternative to minimum wage increases. The tax credit would act as a wage subsidy that would help minimum wage workers pay for child care on their salaries.
Yet No Comments