10th Anniversary of Minimum Wage Initiative

I'd have missed this if I hadn't seen Don Brunell's post on Olympia Business Watch. Yes, it's only been ten years since voters adopted Initiative 688.

As Don writes, passing the initiative did not end the push to steadily raise the wage floor.

Today, politicians are blending minimum wage into a living wage.  That may prove to be counterproductive and actually decrease job opportunities during these economic times especially. While everyone wants to be paid more, the question which needs to be answered:  "Is continually increasing the minimum wage actually reducing jobs?"

Certainly, particularly with younger workers, a higher minimum wage is associated with higher unemployment, as this Heritage Foundation web memo finds.

Why has the economic slowdown hurt teenage workers particularly hard? Economic theory predicts that the recent increases in the minimum wage disproportionately affect teen employment.

Minimum wage jobs are entry level positions for workers with little experience in the labor market, such as teenagers. Most minimum wage workers are between the ages of 16 and 24. Relatively, minimum wage workers are secondary earners in their families?the average family income of a minimum wage worker is over $50,000 a year. As they gain experience, such workers become more productive and earn a raise. Two-thirds of minimum wage workers earn a raise within a year.

Raising the minimum wage makes it more expensive to hire these unskilled workers. Employers will not pay a worker more than the value they add to the company...

Makes sense, doesn't it? Something to think about as the tenth anniversary approaches.