In tonight’s debate, Tim Kaine was asked to outline Hillary Clinton’s economic agenda and quickly highlighted that their potential administration would seek to raise the minimum wage to try and slow poverty:
October 5, 2016
Kaine Touts Job-Destroying Minimum Wage As Central Plank In Clinton Economic Plan
Early on in tonight’s debate, Tim Kaine was asked to outline Hillary Clinton’s economic agenda for America and quickly highlighted that their potential administration would seek to raise the minimum wage to try and slow poverty:
However, repeated studies show that a federal minimum wage increase would cost millions of jobs across the country. The Heritage Foundation found that a federal increase of the minimum wage to $15/hour, which is part of the Democratic Party’s Platform, would cost the nation 7 Million jobs.
In Seattle, WA, a city-commissioned study found the city’s $15 minimum wage increase was hurting jobs and lowering paychecks. The data found that the wage increase was forcing businesses to cut back on hiring and reduce hours as workers were forced to find work outside the city. Additionally, the wage hike forced a $5.22 decrease in wages as workers had their hours reduced and jobs eliminated.
The Wall Street Journal noted that a minimum wage simply means “fewer jobs for fewer people.”
The direct and immediate consequences of a higher wage floor on the entry-level job market are well known: fewer jobs for fewer people. Less discussed are the longer-term adverse outcomes for young people who can no longer find work at artificially high wages.
It is clear that a minimum wage increase as backed by the Clinton/Kaine ticket would stifle wages, eliminate jobs and increase poverty levels, not diminish them.