The slogan on the side of the bus says “Give America a Raise!” in big letters.
It’s the Democrats’ national minimum-wage-hike tour bus, and it stopped in Maine last year.
“Give Part-Time Suburban Teenagers a Raise” would be a more realistic slogan for increasing the minimum wage, but that wouldn’t fit the narrative and it would be far less dramatic.
Democrats need people to believe practically everyone is working at or near the minimum wage and that nearly all of them are trying to support families. A small government-forced increase to a “living wage” is all it will take to “pull these families out of poverty” and “turn our economy around.”
Most importantly, they need us to believe it is only employer greed that keeps these bottom-level earners from moving up and breaking through the minimum wage glass ceiling and that only luck — or the government — can make that happen. The individual worker virtually is powerless.
Of course, none of that is correct.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 97 percent of American workers earn more than the minimum wage. Admittedly, the number of workers earning less than $10 per hour is higher, but estimates vary widely. About half of minimum wage workers are part time and are supported by other means. Most of them are under 24 years old. And only about 15 percent of minimum wage earners are sole earners with children.
It’s easy to see a pay increase for these inexperienced and part-time workers is not going to boost our economy or have any real effect on families living in poverty. But it could have a detrimental effect.
Hiring a bottom-level worker obviously would become more expensive. When something — anything — becomes more expensive, people and businesses use less of it. That’s basic economics, and it means fewer teenage, part-time and low-end workers being hired.
More importantly, Maine’s business environment is bad enough already. Adding to small businesses’ operating costs will not make it easier for them to do business. Many small businesses — especially those just starting out — have very limited and finite resources. They need to pay their most valuable and productive employees more. Higher operating costs — even small ones — ultimately can force a business to close its doors, resulting in termination of all of its employees.
That, however, is not a valid concern of many on the left, including columnist Susan McGee of The Guardian, who recently implied that if you can’t pay a living wage, you shouldn’t be in business. For them, having no job is better than a low-paying job — even if you are a high school student working after school in the local supermarket.
Still, Democrats continue to try and sell the notion that raising the cost of labor somehow creates jobs. Of course jobs and higher wages are not created by forcing small businesses to give their lowest-paid, least-skilled and least-experienced employees a raise. Good-paying jobs are created by a strong economy: Bring the unemployment numbers down, and the law of supply and demand will “give America a raise.”
Until then, starting workers need to understand they have a part to play, too. (Cue the scoffs and howls of indignation.) There are avenues for them to give themselves a raise — the same way many of us have. They can stay in school; they can learn a trade or a skill; and they can use Maine’s Career Centers to find low-cost training. Sometimes it takes working longer hours and making sacrifices. And yes, they might even consider starting their own business. No one said it would be easy.
What is easy, however, is the act of raising the minimum wage. For legislators, it’s just a push of the green “yay” button and the job is done.
That is what will happen this year unless cooler heads prevail. It’s what happened in 2008, when Maine Democrats still had complete control of state government. They raised Maine’s minimum wage to what was then one of the highest in the country. But it helped few who really needed it. No jobs were created. And it didn’t “jump-start” the economy.
Everyone wants to “give America a raise.” The problem is prosperity can’t be forced by government decree. Attempting to do so by raising the minimum wage to a so-called living wage simply will add to the overhead of already struggling small businesses, create more unemployed teens and part-time workers and reinforce Maine’s reputation as “business unfriendly.”
Jonathan McKane lives in Newcastle and served four terms in the Maine House.