Once again Washington is abuzz with talk of raising the minimum wage. President Clinton has announced that he wants the minimum wage increased by $1 over a two-year period. Republicans are proposing a $1 increase over a three-year period.
Both plans are misguided. A minimum wage hike hurts the very people it pretends to help–the poor.
When I was going to school to become a teacher, not only did I student-teach for a semester for free, but I actually paid for the privilege to do so. The summer before his third year of law school my brother-in-law clerked in a law firm without pay. My childhood friend worked for years at sub-poverty wages when he was in training to become a doctor.
Why? Because these low-paying (or non-paying) internships allowed us to develop skills that made us more marketable in the job market.
Why is our government so quick to deny similar opportunities to an entire segment of our society? Every time we raise the minimum wage we prevent workers with no or few marketable skills from entering the job force. When we do so, we deny them the opportunity to acquire needed experience and training.
The federal government’s own studies show that the majority of people working for minimum wage remain at the minimum wage for only a short period of time. Rather the majority of them quickly acquire skills and experience that allow them to demand more money or move to an employer who can pay them higher wages.
The minimum wage is anti-poor. It’s little more than feel-good legislation that turns out to be counterproductive.
As libertarians have been pointing out for years, marketplace solutions based on force rarely achieve the goals they set out to achieve. Repeal minimum wage laws and give everyone the chance to enter and advance in the job market.
