“If you took the minimum wage from 1980 and adjusted it for inflation, you get 11 bucks. (Employees earning less than the minimum wage may also receive tips.) Education and health services, and retail trade round out the top three employers of minimum wage workers. Admittedly, this approach is more complicated to explain on a debate stage than raising the minimum wage to match productivity gains achieved mainly in industries with few minimum wage workers. Note that this is not to ignore research seemingly showing that raising the minimum wage does not in fact reduce employment in low-earner categories.

Source: Forbes October 21, 2019 16:18 UTC