The Minimum Wage Hike Fumbles Teen Jobs
Here is a story from the Arizona Republic about what has happened in Arizona as a result of their Jan. 1st minimum wage increase.  Teenagers are losing jobs, making that first job harder to come by, reducing experience and on-the-job training that help workers to get jobs beyond minimum wage.  While some get the higher pay and keep their hours, others find their hours cut or even their job cut. New workers face a harder time getting that first job, as the competition for jobs increases at the higher wages. This is what we have to look forward to. And it gets worse, as we will see in class.
MC
February 15th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
I have just one question. In the local economy with so many jobs that are not being filled because of the “lack of workers,” would the same affect happen here if the state put in a temportary min. wage law for the hurricane affected areas? Many residents are not working because they don’t have to since the storm passed, in turn this makes the local businesses suffer and work their workers more than the workers are capable of doing. So would raising the min wage be a good thing temp. thing to get the economy and workers back working at the currect time?
February 16th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
WB,
A very good point. In an area like this one, where we are having trouble getting many jobs filled (see my recent post on “The Problem of the OC in LB” and Dr. Turner’s post on teachers in New Orleans and workers in refineries).
In these areas, the wages will go up, and have gone up, without a law to make them go up. It is the natural workings of the market. When their is a shortage, prices increase.
One area that has really supported increasing the minimum wage has been New England.
About six years ago, I took my family on an inexpensive vacation to Western Mass., New Hampshire and Maine. While up there, I noticed a convenience store with a sign on the door trying to get someone to work the store, at $10 an hour! Now these folks won’t see wages affected much, nor will they see much impact on hours or jobs.
I don’t worry about how the minimum wage will affect things in New England or even around here (at this time). What worries me or other areas I have seen, areas in Kentucky and West Virginia, areas in north Louisiana, areas is east Texas. Anywhere where people have trouble getting a minimum wage job, increasing that wage will make the jobs that much harder to find and will impact the poor and the disadvantaged even more.
As it turns out, a few minutes ago, my son asked a similar question. He asked if an increase in the minimum wage would have much impact on him and his sister finding a summer job. I told him probably not. His Mom and I know alot of people who would probably give a couple of good private school kids summer jobs, because we have more connections than some people do. I am worried about his friend at Thibodaux High who lives with his grandmother, who has no special connections. When there are more job seekers than jobs, it becomes power and influence that rules the day. That is exactly what happens when the minimum wage is raised.
Thanks for the good question.
MC
February 25th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Raising the minimum wage will not make it easier for teens to find work. When the wage is higher the number of available positions or available work hours is usually reduced for businesses to compensate for the higher wage. Another problem with a minimum wage increase is that while it is meant to target the young unskilled worker, those who are skilled but working at or just above the minimum wage will be faced with a disparity of wages. For instance, in state civil service, the pay range of a housekeeper may be set with an entry rate of $6.50, and if this particular housekeeper has worked for say a year and her current wage is $7.25, then the minimum wage increases to $7.25, and another person is hired with no experience, the new person starts at $7.25.