Raising The Minimum Wage Does NOT Cost Jobs

(The cartoon above is by Nick Anderson in the Houston Chronicle.)

There is no doubt that the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour  (about $15,000 a year) is a poverty wage, and amounts to nothing less than a theft of labor (which is the only  thing most people have to seek to make a living). And those who oppose raising that minimum wage to a livable level (at least $10,10 an hour) are simply willing to abuse their workers by stealing their labor (whether it is a giant corporation or a small business).

The most prevalent excuse used by those who want to continue stealing labor is that they would have to lay off workers if the minimum wage was raised. This is an outrageous lie (and is no more true than saying businesses will have to lay off workers if they have to pay their fair share of taxes). The truth is that businesses will hire (and keep) the number of workers needed to adequately deliver their product or service to their customers. They won't hire more than is needed (no matter how low the minimum wage is), and they won't keep less than necessary (because that would hurt the business by giving customers less than they expect, which would drive them to a competitor).

But the corporations (and their Republican lackeys) keep telling this lie. They do it in an effort to scare the public -- in the hope that a frightened electorate will allow them to keep stealing worker wages to pad their bank accounts. And they do it in spite of the fact that numerous studies have shown it is just not true. Now there is more evidence that raising the minimum wage would not cost jobs (but would probably have the opposite effect since that new money being spent would actually increase demand -- and therefore increase business profits and create jobs).

Consider this from The National Memo:

A Center for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR) report released last week shows that in the 13 states that increased their minimum wage at the beginning of 2014, job growth was higher than in states that did not. Four states — Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island — had passed legislation to raise the minimum wage, while nine – Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington — automatically did so due to inflation. The CEPR used the average of employment levels from the last five months of 2013 and compared them to the data from the first five months of 2014 to determine the rate of employment growth.

All but one of those states (New Jersey) saw an increase in employment. The average change for these 13 states was +0.99 percent, while the states that did not raise their minimum wages only had an average change of +0.68 percent. Four (Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Florida) were in the top 10 states that had seen job growth, and nine saw growth above the median rate. . .

. . .this report makes it pretty clear that not only does a minimum-wage increase not have a negative impact on job growth, but it might actually help workers and businesses. It’s going to be harder and harder for Republicans to come up with excuses not to do it.

Don't believe the Republican lies about the minimum wage. Raising it would not cost jobs, and would actually be good for the economy (both for business and workers).