Hike will increase unemployment

If John Burbank really wants to help Washington’s poor, he shouldn’t support increases in the minimum wage (Wednesday column, “A fair minimum wage stokes economic growth.”)

In the wake of a minimum wage hike, employers cut costs by cutting hours, firing people and scaling down the number of new hires. Unsurprisingly, the most vulnerable members of the workforce — those without the requisite skills to match their newly increased wages — are disproportionately likely to lose their jobs.

Research from University of California economist David Neumark implies that the recent federal minimum wage hike will increase unemployment among African-American teens and young high school dropouts by up to 33.6 percent and 32 percent, respectively.

A better way to help out low-income families is expanding the size and scope of the Earned Income Tax Credit, a federal program which provides tax-free income to low-income Americans based how much they work. The EITC encourages work and bolsters income without jeopardizing jobs.

Jill Jenkins