As stated, many people do not stop to consider the costs of minimum wage increases. For example, where does the increase in wages come from? It certainly doesn't come from taxes or government funding. It comes from the employers, whether they are large or small. In a recent California wage hike, one employer illustrates how the wage was paid:

"'I took the hit completely the first [two] times, but this las

age increase was enacted. This is consistent with the evidence that minimum wages only marginally touch poor."

Does a Rise in Minimum Wage Create More Unemployment?

t time I raised prices,' says Mickle, who employs eleven people at minimum wage in one store and sixteen in the other. 'That's how things work. If your costs go up, you're going to have to pass some of that along to the customer. You don't pass all of it along. But you have to pass some of it along - that's basically how I try to offset it'" (Laabs, 1998; p. 54).

6. Kaz, James. Labor Laws, Do they help Workers? At: http://www.siteof thesentient.com/minwage.html

>From 1974 through 1981, the minimum wage was actively increased every year, and thus provides some interesting information. After a series of minimum wage increases which began in 1974, "when the basic rate rose from $1.60 to $2, and ending in 1981 with a rate of $3.35, the poverty rate climbed from 11.1 percent of the population to 14.0 percent. After an increase in the minimum wage to $3.80 in 1990 and $4.25 in 1992, the poverty rate climbed from 12.8 percent to 14.5 percent" (National Center for Policy Analysis, NA; s190g.html). Historically speaking, this clearly does not indicate that it has proven to be effective. It may well have worked to assist people out of poverty in the Great Depression, but we are not a country that is in such dire shape these days, and as such too much is negatively affected by the increase. The National Center for Policy Analysis (NA) further illustrates this, stating that in both cases presented above, "the poverty rate rose after the minimum w!

There is obviously much more to this issue than can be addressed herein, but what we have seen clearly indicates that while minimum wage increases sound like it could benefit the poor, they really do more harm then good. Helping the poor is the reason why they were implemented in the first place. They disrupt the workforce in many ways and essentially cause more trouble than they are worth. Through all of this, many people continue to believe that minimum wage increases will help a great deal of individuals, and as such they will perhaps be

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Short-run/Long-run Impact, James Kaz, Analysis NA, Cox NA, Create Unemployment, Policy Past, minimum wage, Laabs Jennifer, Hansen Fay, wage increases, Labor Laws, minimum wage increases, minimum wages, center policy analysis, center policy, national center, national center policy, policy analysis, percent increase, poverty rate, increase minimum wage, analysis na, policy analysis na, stop consider,
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