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Increasing the Minimum Wage Can Help the Working Poor 文章摘要

Minimum Wage
But a study by Princeton economists David Card and Alan Krueger plays havoc with this analysis. They show that recent rises in state and federal minimum wages led to increases, not decreases, in the number of workers employed. The Princeton authors call this pattern very, very "robust": it holds up under a wide variety of circumstances, places and times.

The "Ripple" Effect
For example, an increase to $5.75 per hour would directly affect not only the five million workers who receive the present $4.25 minimum, but also at least 15 million others whose present wages fall between $4.25 and $5.75. Moreover, employers maintain a definite structure of wage differentials among their employees. Thus a "ripple" effect occurs as employers adjust upward the pay of higher−level employees so as to maintain the pay structure.

Four Benefits of the Minimum Wage
As good public policy, the minimum wage has at least four things going for it. First and foremost, it is a way to increase workers' earnings without placing any burden on the taxpayer. It does not add a penny to the federal deficit. If anything, it decreases the
deficit by boosting income tax revenue and reducing welfare payments. Second, it provides increased income to workers who do not qualify for government transfer programs or tax credits. Third, it is an incentive to work in the "above ground"  economy rather than in the "underground" economy where wages are often higher than the federal minimum. Fourth, and by no means least, an increased minimum wage may well lead to higher productivity in the economy. At current wage levels, there is little incentive for low−wage employers to introduce new technology or findother ways to boost the output of their workforce. Required to pay a higher wage, firms would have an incentive to find ways to use their workers more effectively. Barry Bluestone and Teresa Ghilarducci, American Prospect, May/June 1996.

An Unprepared Workforce
These numbers reflect a socially dysfunctional economy. Thirty million workers and their families are at, below, or just above the poverty line. By realistic estimates there are another 12 to 14 million unemployed. In total, nearly a third of the working and
potentially working population are maintained at or just above poverty levels only by grace of assistance from the public treasury.

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