Minimum wage increase? Okay, but it’s not a solution to much

What impact would imposing a $15.00 minimum wage within the next four years have on the economies in the states listed below?

Currently, 29 states and D.C. have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Five states have not adopted a state minimum wage: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. New Hampshire repealed their state minimum wage in 2011 but adopted the federal minimum wage by reference.

https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx

There are consequences to increasing the cost of labor, especially when not driven by competition. We seem convinced we can use laws to change people and circumstances and yet how many times have we seen that not to be true. Changing the minimum people are paid without changing their skills, their education, even their attitudes simply raises the lowest level of everything … and we get nowhere.

I have written about the minimum wage many times (search this blog). Simply applying inflation, the minimum wage should be higher… assuming you agree there should b a minimum wage.

But that’s only part of the story.

Politicians who promote a $15.00 minimum wage create the impression families will be lifted out of poverty.

But the facts about who currently earns a minimum wage don’t support that. A very small percentage of American workers earn a minimum wage. They tend to be young, unmarried, working part-time and less educated.