In 2017, Senators Bernie Sanders and Patty Murray introduced legislation which would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2024. This increase has already begun in states like New York, Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia, where the cost of living is increasing rapidly as well. Currently, D.C. has the highest minimum wage at $12.50. D.C. also has the second highest cost of living and the third highest unemployment rate in the country.
Is this a coincidence? Let’s break it down.
Who is minimum wage intended for?
The controversy begins with what these jobs are and who they are meant to support. Jobs that pay minimum wage are aimed largely towards students and those who are looking for part-time work. These jobs are entry level, meaning they are held by low-skilled workers and are not meant to provide a living wage or support a family. They are the first step into the world of employment and are made to prepare you for the rest of your life, not support you through it. No one can get a better job until they have a first job.
Simply put, minimum wage jobs are not careers.
What will happen if we raise it?
You have probably heard that raising the minimum wage will result in a decrease in poverty and income inequality. But is this true? In cities and states where the minimum wage has been raised, the cost of living and unemployment rate are both drastically higher.
When the government regulates wages, businesses big and small experience loss of revenue due to higher prices and end up closing. The risk of financial failure results in a dramatic decrease in entrepreneurship and small businesses are shut down.
Increases in minimum wage mean increases in all workers' wages. An increase in labor costs leads to increase in profit pressure, resulting in businesses closing and jobs disappearing. Business owners are forced to hire fewer people so they can pay those few workers more. Multiple studies have found that higher minimum wages lower employment of teens and low-skilled workers, which would only hurt young people and rob them of those entry-level job opportunities.
Who does a $15 minimum wage help?
Andy Puzder, the former CEO of the parent company of Hardee's and Carl's Jr., explained in a PragerU video how raising the minimum wage hurts businesses. He cites a 2014 Congressional Budget Office study, saying, "just a $10 minimum wage would cost half a million jobs as businesses terminate employees. Obviously, far more jobs would be lost at $15 an hour. To survive, employers would have to reduce hours even for workers who manage to keep their jobs. That’s a pay cut."
Also mentioned in this video is a Harvard Business School study, which found that each $1 increase in minimum wage results in a 4-10 percent likelihood of restaurants closing. A $7 increase would be disastrous for restaurants, small businesses, and their employees.
Raising the minimum wage to $15 sure sounds appealing to those who are currently earning that, but the effects of it largely outweigh any personal satisfaction one would get from it. It is simply not worth it.