$15 minimum wage would reduce jobs
In arguing for a $15 minimum wage, Illinois Rep. Will Guzzardi suggests you’re either on the side of working class residents or “big corporations.”
It’s not that simple. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most minimum wage employees work for restaurants and retailers with low single-digit profit margins. By raising starter wage labor costs by 82 percent as Rep. Guzzardi desires, restaurants and retailers will be forced to lay off staff, reduce hours, or close altogether – as is already happening in places experimenting with similar dramatic wage mandates. (Specific stories can be found at Facesof15.com.)
Because of these economics, five in six U.S.-based labor economists believe that a $15 minimum wage would reduce jobs for young jobseekers. Even left-of-center economists from the Obama and Clinton Administrations have warned against such a dramatic wage increase.
Jordan Bruneau
Washington, DC
This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 4:13 PM with the headline "$15 minimum wage would reduce jobs."