Tweet debunk of the week: 28 million Americans would see higher wages if Congress votes to #RaiseTheWage

Not only does the White House overstate the potential benefits of increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour – but it also fails to mention that there would be fewer people working. According to a recent report from the Congressional Budget Office, 16 million Americans – not the White House’s reported 28 million...

Not only does the White House overstate the potential benefits of increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour – but it also fails to mention that there would be fewer people working.

According to a recent report from the Congressional Budget Office, 16 million Americans – not the White House’s reported 28 million – make less than $10.10, the proposed federal minimum wage. The same report also estimates that somewhere between 500,000 and 1 million Americans could be thrown into the ranks of the unemployed under an increased minimum wage.

While promising higher wages might earn political points, the reality is that this approach harms the lowest-skilled in our state. Illinois’ minimum wage of $8.25, which is higher than the current federal minimum, has already inflicted this misguided approach on the state’s youngest and lowest-skilled workers.

According to the Institute’s Director of Job and Growth, Michael Lucci:

“The current minimum wage is already harming Illinoisans seeking work. Illinois has the fifth-highest minimum wage in the country, along with the third-worst unemployment nationally. Unemployment among youths in Illinois, defined as workers age 16-24 who seek work, is at a crisis levels. Through 2012, 18.5 percent of workers age 16-24 are unemployed, including 27.1 percent of workers 16-19. Minority unemployment rates are even worse:

* 29.0 percent of blacks and 31.5 percent of Latinos age 16-19 are unemployed.

* 25.9 percent of blacks and 11.2 percent of Latinos age 20-24 are unemployed.

“Current policies are not serving young workers and minorities. In fact, after being forced through a failed education system, the minimum wage law only adds to the burden by creating a barrier between young workers and the on-the-job skills they desperately need.”

Rather than creating more economic opportunity, raising the minimum wage will further undermine the economic prospects of those in our state who already have the odds stacked against them. Illinois’ young workers and minorities need more chances to get a foothold on the first rung of the economic ladder, not catchy hashtags that push an opportunity-destroying agenda.