NewsStudy Raises Questions about Minimum Wage Increase
A study released this week by the University of Washington analyzing the minimum wage increase in Seattle has found that jobs and work hours fell for the city’s lowest paid employees after the minimum wage was raised to $13 there last year. The study shows that jobs and hours for those workers declined faster in Seattle than in surrounding control areas where the minimum wage did not increase. Some economists see this as possible sign that laws such as those passed in Seattle, New York and California which would increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour could hurt workers at the lowest end of the wage spectrum - the very employees that the increase was designed to protect. The study in no way proves that what has happened in Seattle will be the case in other areas; however, a UCLA economist warns that Los Angeles should be alarmed. In a city such as Los Angeles where you have a greater population of minority, low-pay, low-skill workers, the damage could be even greater.
For more information, please see https://evans.uw.edu/policy-impact/minimum-wage-study.