Letter to the Editor

Minimum wage laws end up hurting those whom laws should be trying to help most

When I started working in one of the restaurants on Marshall Street, I was excited to hear that I was going to be paid $8 per hour.

Many people today argue that there needs to be a “living wage,” which is the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet basic needs. These laws create many effects that many people do not take into account. The basic principle against minimum wage laws is the tradeoff between more employment and higher wages.

If the owner makes $10 per hour off my work and pays me $8 per hour, then the owner makes $2 profit. If the minimum wage increases to $11 per hour, the owner loses $1 per hour by keeping me employed and will lay me off. The most productive employees will probably keep their jobs, but there will be far fewer employees to do the same amount of work.

Many people say that “owners will pay their workers $2 per hour if there isn’t a minimum wage.”  This is a ridiculous statement if logic is applied. You have to ask yourself, would you work for $2 per hour? Probably not. Do you know anyone that wants to work for $2 per hour? Probably not.

Since the owner needs workers to run the store, the owner will offer a higher wage to attract workers. On top of that, the owner must also compete with the many other stores on Marshall Street that might pay their workers a higher wage. Also, no one will work for an owner if he or she pays $2 or $3 less than what other stores are offering to pay.



During times of high unemployment, some workers will end up working for lower wages. But as more workers become employed, store owners will not be able to find anyone to work for low wages, which in turn will lead them to increase wages to attract more workers. The low earning workers will gain skills as well and then demand higher wages or will take their recently acquired knowledge somewhere else.

Though well intentioned, minimum wage laws hurt the very people they are meant to help, specifically the less skilled and disadvantaged.

Stephen Sydor

Class of 2014

International relations, economics major

 





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