The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Print Edition
Letter to the editor submissions
Have a strong opinion about something happening on campus or in Fort Collins? Want to respond to an article written on The Collegian? Write a Letter to the Editor by following the guidelines here.
Follow Us on Twitter
Crypto Exchange Listing: Types of Exchanges and Compliance Requirements
March 25, 2024

The crypto industry continues to evolve, fueled by the increasing institutional adoption of crypto. Today, numerous companies are entering the...

‘Fight for 15’ movement is not economically sustainable

The “Fight for 15” movement has become popular in the past year, gaining advocates for a $15 minimum wage from politicians and the working class alike. Protestors against the United States’ current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour argue that this is not a “living wage.” Although I empathize with people living in poverty, raising the minimum wage would have the opposite effect intended. Instead of helping people climb out of poverty, a dramatic increase in minimum wage would eventually price low-skilled workers out of jobs.

One does not need to be an economist to understand that increasing the cost of labor increases the cost of goods. Businesses, often small ones, operate off of low profit margins and high sales. As these businesses raise their workers’ wages, they must raise the prices of their products. As the prices of products rise, sales go down. As sales go down, businesses suffer, not to mention that most minimum wage jobs have a low skill requirement. When an employer does not need to hire someone based off a complex skill set, they begin to replace jobs with technology. It is not hard to imagine that if McDonald’s workers were paid $15, the company would begin to phase out employees and replace cashiers with iPads.

Ad

Many jobs are paid based on the amount of goods or services produced. When an individual can produce more for the economy, he or she gets paid more. When a fast food service worker who doesn’t contribute new goods or products to the economy gets paid the same amount as an EMT who saves lives, competition in the job market goes down. If the minimum wage were to rise dramatically, not all professions across the board would see a proportionate increase in salary. It would not be sustainable for the economy long-term. Unskilled workers become “priced out” of their jobs, increasing unemployment rates.

If this is difficult to believe, look at the unemployment data for the European Union, which compares countries with minimum wage laws and without minimum wage laws.

In 2012, countries with minimum wage laws had an average unemployment rate of 11.8 percent, where countries without these laws had a lower unemployment rate of 7.9 percent. The trend over the past decade has remained consistent — higher minimum wages enforced by law turn out higher unemployment rates.

This has even been seen in United States history — the last time there was no minimum wage law was during the Coolidge Administration. During the last four years of his presidency, the unemployment rate dipped to an historic 1.8 percent.

It is dangerous to think that politicians, vying for power via the public vote, are doing good by voting to raise the minimum wage. When their careers depend on appealing to the emotions of the public, they tend to push aside what is best for the economy and the people to procure a vote. The facts and data are there. A dramatic hike in wages will only damage the economy and cost the people.

If we really want to help the poor, is removing jobs from the market the best way to do it?

Collegian Columnist Megan Burnett can be reached at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @megsbcollegian.

View Comments (4)
More to Discover

Comments (4)

When commenting on The Collegian’s website, please be respectful of others and their viewpoints. The Collegian reviews all comments and reserves the right to reject comments from the website. Comments including any of the following will not be accepted. 1. No language attacking a protected group, including slurs or other profane language directed at a person’s race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social class, age, physical or mental disability, ethnicity or nationality. 2. No factually inaccurate information, including misleading statements or incorrect data. 3. No abusive language or harassment of Collegian writers, editors or other commenters. 4. No threatening language that includes but is not limited to language inciting violence against an individual or group of people. 5. No links.
All The Rocky Mountain Collegian Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • T

    Thomas CreoSep 28, 2015 at 2:53 pm

    The fight for 15 is a fight on the part of entitled, under-skilled people. It is about people wanting to get more for doing less and it is deplorable that it has the traction it does.

    Reply