The Patriot Post® · Hiking the Min. Wage Raises Teen Unemployment

Stephen Moore: “On New Year’s Day, the minimum wage increased in 20 states and the District of Columbia. This follows a year in which protesters hit the streets in major cities, camping in front of fast food stores and demanding a hike in the minimum wage. Last summer, Seattle raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2018. In December, San Francisco followed suit, approving a $15 minimum wage by 2018. Likewise, Chicago just mandated a $13 hourly wage by 2019. Meanwhile, President Obama storms around the country moaning that Scrooge-like congressional Republicans are refusing to give the American worker a raise. … During the last federally mandated series of minimum wage hikes from $5.15 to $7.25, teenage labor force participation plummeted from near 41 percent to a low of less than 33 percent as unemployment jumped from near 15 percent to a high of more than 27.4 percent. Yes, the primary cause was the Great Recession. But raising the minimum wage when the economy was contracting was a recipe for disaster for young workers whose wage fell to $0.00. Sorry, there is no free lunch by hiking the minimum wage.”