Economy

Does Raising the Minimum Wage Kill Jobs?

August 28th 2014

Talk to any opponent of raising the minimum wage and the first thing they'll tell you is that while in theory it sounds nice, it hurts the very people you're trying to help by cannibalizing jobs.

Yet the job killer argument is suspect-- at best. Look at the data:
Is there an overwhelming conclusion? Absolutely not. With the exception of the CBO Study, most research indicates negligible, if non-existent, job loss, while conveying a minor economic stimulus from raised wages (due to the increased consumer spending of people having a few extra bucks in their pocket), which might actually create jobs. 
 
So since the job killer argument is a pretty much a wash, let's look at a different trend: economic inequality. 
 
No study disputes this:

CEO to Worker Wage Difference

Or this:
  • The average pay of a top restaurant CEO in 2013 was 721 times more than minimum wage workers.
Or this:
  • data from the US Census reveals that income levels of the median middle class household have remained flat since 1989
 
The logical conclusion? The argument on behalf of reducing income inequality greatly outweighs the argument that the minimum wage kills jobs.