Monday, February 05, 2007

Hours; the Reason Why...

Minimum wage laws hurt the people they supposedly were designed to help. Life imitates an economics textbook for one fast-food restaurant worker:

Minimum wage went up this year, so if anything I should be happy. However, starting this week, the owner of the restaurant started cutting back our hours. The business isn't failing or anything, yet he just decided to cut back our hours. While I used to get around 23 hours a week, I now have 14. My co-workers are suffering the same fate, each of them losing five or more hours. When I calculated my coming paycheck, I realized that I was making more money before the raise than I will now. How is it that our wage goes up, but we end up making less than before?

Because (as economists such as Craig Newmark know) Demand Curves slope down, and employers demand less labor at higher prices.

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