http://townhall.com/columnists/philkerpen/2013/12/18/minimum-wage-hammers-youth-n1764747/page/full
Since 1948, when the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking it, 20 percent teenage unemployment has been mostly unthinkable. It didn't happen for a single month from 1948 until May of 1975, when the mark was reached for a brief fourth month stretch against the backdrop of an increasing minimum wage.
It happened again for just over two years from October 1981 to November 1983 (and briefly again for two months in 1985) - just after the 1977 minimum wage increase was fully phased in - a 45 percent jump from $2.30 to $3.35.
We saw 20 percent teen unemployment again for eight out of twelve months in 1992 following the 27 percent increase in the minimum wage that took effect in 1990 and 1991.
And we've been living with it now for by far the longest period in history: every single month since November 2008 - right in the middle of the three-step increase in the minimum wage that raised it more than 40 percent. That's five full years. The peak of 27.1 percent teenage unemployment came in October 2009 - just two months after the last minimum wage spike took effect.
Unemployment among workers aged 20 to 24 has been above 10 percent even longer than teenage unemployment has been above 20. We have, in effect, an entire generation in which millions of people are reaching age 25 without significant work experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment