Mediaboss Marketing

THE number of teenagers working summer jobs has dropped through the years, for a variety of reasons. This trend seems sure to accelerate if Democrats in Congress ever succeed in implementing a $15 minimum wage.

An analysis by the Bureau of Labor Statistics says one reason for the decrease in teen workers is that more of them are studying instead. In July 2016, more than two in five 16- to 19-year-olds were enrolled in school four times as many as were enrolled in 1985, Bloomberg reported recently.

Teens aren't going to summer school just because they failed a class and need to catch up, reporter Ben Steverman wrote. They're also enrolling in enrichment courses and taking courses for college credit.

There are other theories as to why fewer young people are spending their summers on a job somewhere. One is that older Americans are remaining on their jobs at a higher rate than in years past. Another is that parents are encouraging their children to pad their college resumes by volunteering or enrolling for extracurricular activities instead of working. Another is that more immigrants are competing with teens for entry-level jobs.

These jobs pay a minimum of $7.25, the federal minimum wage, although a majority of states have approved a higher minimum wage. Liberal states lead the way in paying more the minimum wage is $11 an hour in Washington and Massachusetts, for example. California's is $10 ($10.50 for companies with 26 or more employees), Connecticut's is $10.10.

Some places have sought to go even higher, with detrimental effects on smaller businesses in particular. Some governors and city councils have rejected similar efforts, citing concerns about their impact.

Yet liberals in Congress wish to make a $15 minimum the law of the land. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Patty Murray, D-Wash, last month introduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2017, backed by several Democratic colleagues. The House version is sponsored by Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and Bobby Scott, D-Va.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a tweet that this latest effort is about dignity in the workplace & making sure American workers can provide for their families. This has long been the go-to argument for proponents of such efforts. But the minimum wage isn't intended to serve in that capacity.

Instead, it's intended as a starting point. Writing in 2013 at U.S. News and World Report, Democratic strategist Penny Lee noted that 50 percent of McDonald's franchise owners were once hourly wage employees, and that Walmart promotes more than 160,000 employees a year. These are all individuals who are able to gain a higher wage and better standard of living through experience and on-the-job training, gaining the kind of skill sets needed to live out the American dream, she wrote.

Lee added that the opportunity for upward mobility seemed to be missing from the debate over hourly wages. When defining what amounts to a fair wage, she wrote, shouldn't the fair question be what corresponds to the market value of what the worker produces?

The answer was yes then and it's yes now.

Read the rest here:
Progressives unrelenting in their push for $15 federal minimum ... - NewsOK.com