That's certainly the case with the state's minimum wage hike, which is set to hit in 2024.
Some industries will get an even bigger wage shock: fast-food minimum wages go up to $20 an hour starting in April.
Workers in the health care industry will see their minimum wage rise to $18, $21 or $23 an hour, depending on the job.
As study after study in recent years show, government-mandated minimum wage hikes usually hurt those they're meant to help.
As for the argument that the hike is needed to "Keep up with inflation," whose inflation are we talking about? Just the workers? How about the businesses? With three-quarters of their costs being labor-related, they have to take immediate action, or go out of business.
For the curious, there are literally dozens of studies and reports out there that explode the myths of raising minimum wages, ranging from Walter B. Williams' 1977 landmark study for Congress that showed minority youths suffered most when minimum wages rise, to more recent studies showing that non-wage losses after a minimum-wage hike offset any gains for workers.
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