What can and can’t a $15 minimum wage do? That’s the question answered by Mark Perry, an American Enterprise Institute scholar and University of Michigan-Flint economics professor.
Perry explains that the minimum wage requires employers to pay their employees a minimum of $15 an hour. That’s it. That’s all that proponents of the policy are calling for, but as Perry notes, there’s a lot the law can’t do, and that’s where the problems occur.
For example, the policy “does not guarantee that a single new job will be created,” Perry wrote. It also “cannot stop employers from reducing the number of weekly work hours assigned to employees at the new $15 an hour minimum wage.”
Other things the policy can’t do include stopping companies from bringing in robots or kiosks to take the place of low-skilled workers and keeping businesses from choosing to move to cities and states where the minimum wage is lower.
Cities, like Seattle, Wash., that have implemented a $15 minimum wage have seen job losses and business closures. Fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s have already started installing kiosks so cashiers will no longer be necessary.
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04.24.2024