Not that it is hard to predict, but Arizona is finding that their feel good minimum wage hike is having a negative impact on the very people it is supposed to be helping. Business is cutting jobs and raising prices:
Tom Kelly, owner of Mary Coyle Ol' Fashion Ice Cream Parlor in Phoenix, voted for the minimum-wage increase. But he said, "The new law has impacted us quite a bit."
It added about $2,000 per month in expenses. The store, which employs mostly teen workers, has cut back on hours and has not replaced a couple of workers who quit.
Kelly raised the wages of workers who already made above minimum wage to ensure pay scales stayed even. As a result, "we have to be a lot more efficient" and must increase menu prices, he said.
Fewer jobs, higher prices. Can you think of two things that help the working poor less?
Speaking of the working poor, very few were "positively" affected by the hike:
"Workers affected by the minimum-wage increase are less likely to be supporting a family than the typical Arizona worker," it stated. "For example, 30.4 percent of the workers are living with their parent or parents, while only 7.6 percent of all Arizona workers are in this category."
That's somewhere around 10,000 of the 145,000 overall who traded an extra $1.60 an hour for the privilege of having a harder time finding a job, and paying more for the things they need to survive.
What a bonus.
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