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Higher Minimum Wages Harm Minority and Inner-City Teens
September 2000 · Mark Turner - Johns Hopkins University, Berna Demiralp - Johns Hopkins University ·
Economists and policy makers once again find themselves engaged in a heated debate over proposed legislation to increase the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 per hour. A neglected, yet important, component of this debate is the effect of minimum wage hikes on teenagers’ employment and school enrollment. The scant number of studies on this issue have yielded contradictory findings, leaving the issue unresolved. The impact… -
National Good Times, Local Bad Times: The Local Area Unemployment Crisis
July 2000 · Employment Policies Institute ·
In the midst of the national economic boom, regional pockets of the economy are surprisingly weak. The following list comprises counties and cities (each with a population of at least 10,000 people) struggling with unemployment rates that are more than twice the national average. These localities are encountering great difficulty keeping their citizens productively employed. They face even greater challenges moving low-skilled people from welfare to work.… -
Rising Above The Minimum Wage
January 2000 · William Even - Miami University of Ohio, David A. Macpherson - Florida State University ·
Proponents of a higher minimum wage often imply that entry-level employees go years without a wage increase. Common sense suggests otherwise: the vast majority of those who start at the minimum wage do not remain there for long. In this report, William Even of Miami University, Ohio and David Macpherson of Florida State University provide a valuable in-depth analysis of how quickly most people move up the… -
Effective Marginal Tax Rates on Low Income Households
February 1999 · Daniel N. Shaviro - New York University School of Law ·
Major shifts in public policy invariably produce unintended consequences. Nowhere is this more clear than in policies affecting the working poor. In this paper, Professor Daniel Shaviro of New York University demonstrates that America’s working poor are subject to punishing marginal tax rate effects that can sap most — and, in some cases, all — of the higher earnings accompanying their wage increases. Professor Shaviro utilizes data… -
Effects of the 1998-1999 Oregon Minimum Wage Increase
May 1998 · Dr. David A. Macpherson - Florida State University ·
Based upon an analysis of Labor Department data, Dr. David Macpherson finds the 1998-1999 Oregon minimum wage hike from $5.50 to $6.50 will cause more than 5,400 workers to lose job opportunities. As a consequence, Oregon workers will lose approximately $50 million in annual income. At the same time, minimum wage employers will see their labor costs rise by $162 million per year in order to provide… -
Effects of the Proposed 1999-2000 Washington Minimum Wage Increase
May 1998 · Dr. David A. Macpherson - Florida State University ·
Based upon an analysis of Labor Department data, Dr. David Macpherson finds that a proposal to hike the Washington minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.50 by the year 2000 would cause more than 7,431 workers to lose job opportunities. As a consequence, Washington workers would lose approximately $64 million in annual income. At the same time, minimum wage employers would see their labor costs rise by $204…