Conservative Talking Points believes every job has a value. The government cannot set an arbitrary value to any job and any government that can set a minimum wage can also someday set a maximum wage. Oh wait - they just did that to the financial industry in 2009.
Who's Getting Minimum Wage (Source: The Heritage Foundation)
· 44% are teenagers or young adults aged 21 or less
· 66% of the young workers are in families with incomes double the official poverty level for the size of their family
· Sole breadwinners account for only 12% of minimum wage workers with dependents
· 69% of minimum wage workers are in families with at least two other earners
· 60% who start work at the minimum wage get their first raise within the first year
· Only 1% of the full time work force is earning just the minimum wage
· Only 15% of minimum wage workers still receive minimum wage after three years on the job
Minimum Wage Kills Jobs (Individually Sourced)
· The proposed increase in the Boston state minimum wage to $8.25/hr would lead to the loss of 26,970 jobs. (Source: A 2005 study by The Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University in Boston)
· Any increase in the minimum wage leaves businesses that employ millions of low skilled workers with two options: 1) Increase prices or 2) layoff more workers. One will increase inflation and the other will result in more unemployed. (Source: PennyJobs.com)
· The 12% minimum wage hike of 2008 contributed to a 5% drop in teen unemployment. Since Congress began implementing the 2007 wage hike, over 480,000 teen jobs have been destroyed across the country. (Source: Employment Policies Institute (EPI) - July 2009)