A new study by the University of Washington has found Seattle’s increase of its minimum wage to $13 an hour, part of a planned hike to $15, has left low-wage workers worse off.
The study found the increase led to reduced employment for those workers and cut hours for those that kept their jobs. This undid the effects of the higher wages.
“The lost income associated with the hours reductions exceeds the gain associated with the net wage increase of 3.1 percent …. [W]e compute that the average low-wage employee was paid $1,897 per month. The reduction in hours would cost the average employee $179 per month, while the wage increase would recoup only $54 of this loss, leaving a net loss of $125 per month (6.6 percent), which is sizable for a low-wage worker,” the study concluded.
The report, released Monday, is a blow to movement for a higher minimum, which has adopted a $15 rate as its goal and has repeatedly argued that there is no evidence that this would negatively impact low-wage workers. The movement gained considerable steam in just a few years with the governors of California and New York signing bills last year phasing in a $15 rate. The Democratic Party adopted it as part of its official platform in 2016.
The study was conducted by researchers for the University of Washington’s Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance and was commissioned by the city of Seattle when it passed an ordinance in 2014 putting the city’s minimum wage at $15, phasing it in over a period of years. The city rate increased to $13 an hour at the beginning of last year.
Critics of the movement seized on the report.
“The report shows there is little to celebrate for many of Seattle’s employers and employees,” said Sean Kumnick, spokesman for the conservative Employee Policies Institute.
Proponents of the movement argue that the study was flawed, noting it is out of line with earlier studies.
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Study: Seattle's minimum wage is hurting the poor https://t.co/wKPUsumOnl pic.twitter.com/jj9EvfDTTw
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) June 26, 2017
Well, duh! Haven’t a whole bunch of non-socialIst experts said this would hqppen? Raise the minimum wage and all you get is part-time, seasonal or temporary work –that is, if you can find jobs at all. It just stands to reason that if you add a financial burden on an employer, he’s going to find a way to recoup that cost from someone — the worker, the consumer, or both. Jobs are lost, hours are reduced and/or the employees are replaced by automation.
Way to go, Seattle!
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