>> That is not a study but an anecdote.
Perhaps the tone of the post was lost on you.
>> Sure, you can always find an outlier that supports most any argument. But actual studies do not support your assertions.
Of course they do. I've previously cited such studies for you. You're steel trap memory must be on the wane.
In spite of a very small number of employees in the US earning minimum wage (in 2008, fewer than 1.5% of workers over the age of 25), after the 2008 increase one study found that a 10% increase in the MW would result in a 0.19% increase in unemployment.
Within ten years of its enactment it became clear that the MW causes unemployment. Here is a reading list for you from the 1995 debate on the subject:
gpo.gov
Now, you're not going to read any of these, because they don't support your personal point of view. If you did, though, you would also find that the people who are injured most by the MW are those who government bureaucrats most want to help -- the working poor. It is a prime example of "We're from the government and we're here to help" -- good intentions gone horribly wrong.
Following is a brief synopsis of the research on the subject taken from the Hicks [2008] paper.
Douty [1960] found minimum wages reduced employment in low wage industries, while Brozen [1962] and Welch [1974] found that minimum wage legislation drove workers to employment in jobs not covered by minimum wage laws (e.g. the shadow economy).
Kaun [1965] found that small businesses bore the brunt of cost increases due to the legislation and Beranek [1982] argues that minimum wage legislation promoted illegal immigrant labor. Others, including Gallasch [1975], Peterson [1957], Peterson and Stewart [1969] found the minimum wage reduced employment.
The clustering of effects among the young saw significant research, as did the concern over effects on African Americans.5 Overall the young, and particularly African-American teenage males were found to be disproportionately affected by the minimum wage.
Recent research (Aaronsen, French and Macdonald, 2008) found that the minimum wage caused a price increase in restaurants, while earlier research had found it had an inflationary effect (see Adams [1987], Brozen [1966], Gramlich [1976], Grossman [1983]), increase the crime rate (Hashimoto [1987] and Phillips [1981]).
International studies of the minimum wage have confirmed most of the impacts observed in the U.S. (see Forrest (1982); Corbo (1981); Gregory (1981); Rosa (1981), Freeman and Freeman[1981], and Bosch and Manacorda, [2008]). Some newer research also points to the absence of an impact on employment due to increases in the Minimum wage (Card, 1992a,b) and Card and Kreuger (1992). These studies also
found a modest positive wage impact. Further, Betsey and Dunson [1981] find that cyclical unemployment, especially among youths contributes to an over estimate of the impact of the minimum wage on employment. Despite finding job losses associated with minimum wages, Cox and Oaxaca [1981] find that income for low wage workers rises more proportionately.
The research here to date can be summarized easily in providing a range of results. First, the overwhelming majority of studies find small, albeit small negative employment effects of a minimum wage. A small number of studies find no effect on employment. A few studies find small positive wage effects, a much larger number of studies find no effect. These results can be explained by the timing of the studies, and particularly the absence of effects could well result from a minimum wage increase that was beneath the market wage for the affected workers.
A recent study of economists opinions found that between half and three quarters did not support the minimum wage, and felt it could cause reduced employment (Whaples, 2006).
What is clear is that the minimum wage is a relatively high cost mechanism for ensuring low wage workers are better off. |
