$15 minimum wage could cost 350,000 jobs

Posted at noon on April 27, 2019

The Brillion News

MADISON – A new study estimates possible job losses at 350,000 if the state raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour.

The new policy brief was published Monday by the Badger Institute.

“The High Cost of Increasing the Minimum Wage in Wisconsin to $15,” authored by economists and Badger Institute Visiting Fellows Ike Brannon and Andrew Hanson, examines the economic impact in Wisconsin if lawmakers were to mandate a 107 percent increase in the minimum wage as Governor Tony Evers and others have recommended. The 350,000 workers who would lose their jobs represent nearly one-third of all workers currently earning a wage below the proposed new minimum.

Half of the job loss would come from the bottom 10% of the income distribution, and 90 percent would come from the bottom quartile of the income distribution.

“Using a blunt instrument like the minimum wage to reduce poverty is both penny foolish and pound foolish,” said Brannon.

Complete story, including Badger Institute’s proposal for giving low wage workers a break, is featured in the May 2 print edition of THE BRILLION NEWS.