A study on raising the minimum wage says the benefits do not outweigh the costs, and that an increase could result in lost jobs, thereby hurting some of the people it’s designed to help.
The report commissioned by the right-leaning Wisconsin Policy Research Institute predicts that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would result in at least 12,000 and at most 55,000.
Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Restaurant Association came out with a study with similar findings. It claimed that a higher minimum wage could result in 16,000 lost jobs.
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Sen. Bob Wirch, D-Kenosha, disagrees with the new report.
“All you have to do is look at 13 other states who raised their minimum, and employment went up. So I think that refutes their argument,” said Wirch.
Ike Brannon runs a Washington D.C. consulting firm and co-authored the report for the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute. He said an increase in the minimum wage would likely be passed on to consumers, resulting in higher prices. The report said that a better option would be to increase the Earned Income Tax Credit, which would put the financial burden on government, not business.
In its last budget, Wisconsin decreased the Earned Income Tax Credit.
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