News February 13, 2013

President Obama’s Minimum Wage Hike Proposal is Wrong

During last night’s State of the Union address, President Obama called for a 24 percent increase to the minimum wage to $9 per hour, and to tie future increases to changes in the Consumer Price Index. The President’s goal is to help those in poverty, but his policy would do…
News February 8, 2013

Poorly Designed Poll Leads to Skewed Results

According to a recent Quinnipiac Poll, 80 percent of New Yorkers support increasing the state’s minimum wage to $8.75 from $7.25. It’s a result policymakers should take with a grain of salt. Polls like this one bank on emotion and ignore the fine print. Take a poll conducted by ORC…
News January 30, 2013

Liberal Advocacy Group Hypocritically Attacks Nationally-Renowned Economist

Dr. David Neumark is a noted economist and minimum wage expert from the University of California-Irvine. He’s often cited by groups across the ideological spectrum for his unbiased research on the minimum wage and other economic issues. Yet one labor union-backed advocacy group, the National Employment Law Project (NELP), has…
News January 23, 2013

Maryland’s $10 Wage Hike Proposal Will Hurt Businesses and Employees—Especially Teenagers

Yesterday, Maryland Senate Majority Leader Robert Garagiola (D) and the advocacy group Progressive Maryland launched a campaign to increase the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $10—a 38 percent increase. If successful, the supporters of the effort will end up hurting the very employees they intend to help. According to…
News January 18, 2013

Albuquerque Businesses Hurt by Minimum Wage Hike

Last November, voters in Albuquerque, New Mexico approved a ballot measure increasing the city’s minimum wage from $7.50 per hour to $8.50 per hour, or nearly $2,100 a year per employee. On January 1 of this year, the wage hike went into effect; within two weeks, local businesses were already…
News November 13, 2012

Minimum Wages to Rise in at least Ten States and Three Cities in 2013

The Employment Policies Institute announced that ten states and three cities will increase their minimum wages on January 1, 2013.
News October 15, 2012

New Study: The Impact of Citywide Wage & Benefit Mandates

Today, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) released a new study authored by University of Kentucky economist Aaron Yelowitz, which examines the impact of citywide compensation floors in cities like San Francisco. The study finds that (all else being equal) each additional $1 increase in wage and benefit mandates reduces young…
News May 18, 2012

New Analysis: Teen Unemployment Up in 17 States and DC, Down in 32 States

As teens begin their search for summer employment, an analysis of newly-released Census Bureau data by the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) shows teen unemployment rose in 17 states and DC between April 2011 and April 2012, and fell in 32 states. It was unchanged in one state. Teen jobless rates still average above 20 percent…
News May 9, 2012

Eliminating the Tipped Wage Rate a Bad Deal for Illinois Restaurant Employees

Today, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) released a new analysis of Illinois S. 1565, a bill introduced by Sen. Kimberly Lightford, which raises the state minimum wage and eliminates the separate rate for employees who earn tip income. The wage for tipped employees would rise from $4.95 to $8.90 an…
News April 24, 2012

Minimum Wage Employees Aren’t Working 20 Hours a Day to Afford Rent

You’ve probably seen this chart. Perhaps you shared it on Facebook. Taken literally, the chart means that—in a state like New York—people who earn the minimum wage are working almost 20 hours a day, seven days a week, just to put a roof over their head. In the…