Note Cards

Job Loss
Studies have been done to show whether raising minimum wage creates job loss. The
results vary. Some say yes and some say no. But hypothetically, lets just say that raising
minimum wage does create job loss. The number of people who would lose their jobs would be
nothing compared to the number of people pulled out of poverty. Currently, it is very difficult for
people to live on minimum wage.
If minimum wage were a living wage, however, while some people would lose their jobs,
the number that would benefit would be huge. For example, according to Eric Morath, Damian
Paletta, and Carol E. Lee of the Wall Street Journal, a Congressional Budget Office report found
that while raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would cause thousands of people to lose their
jobs, millions of people would now be able to make a living for themselves. These are sacrifices
we need to make for the United States to function properly and for people to be able to live.
Hypothetical aside, however, the National Employment Law Project, the Center for American
Progress Action Fund, and the Economic Policy Institute all have done studies and reports
showing that raising minimum wage does not reduce employment in most circumstances.
The study The Wage and Employment Impact of Minimum Wage Laws in Three Cities by The
Center for Economic and Policy Research, concludes that The results for fast food, food
services, retail, and low-wage establishments ... support the view that citywide minimum wages
can raise the earnings of low-wage workers, without a discernible impact on their
employment (DC, Santa Fe, and San Francisco)
According to the Center for American Progress Action Fund, even during hard economic times,
raising the minimum wage doesnt reduce employment.
According to the National Employment Law Project, research shows that a higher minimum
wage has little correlation to job reductions.
A survey by the University of Chicagos Booth School of Business shows that Quote. leading
economists agreed by a nearly 4 to 1 margin that the benefits of raising and indexing the
minimum wage outweigh the costs. Unquote.
A study done by the Economic Policy Institute called Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to
$10.10 Would Give Working Families, and the Overall Economy, a Much-Needed Boost, shows
that raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation would Quote, generate more than
$30 billion in new economic activity and support the creation of 140,000 new full-time jobs as
businesses expand to meet increased consumer demand. Unquote.
Inflation

According to Journalists Resource, the minimum wage would need to be significantly raised for
it to even reach the value it held in 1968
Journalists Resource also says that Minimum wage needs to increase to keep up with inflation,
and it has not been indexing
If minimum wage is not adjusted for inflation it becomes meaningless because it is too low. The
minimum wage in 1938, the year it was started, would have no impact today because it is too
low.
According to Economic Policy Institute, minimum wage must be raised just to keep up with
inflation, and it would not create more inflation