For quite some time now, progressives have rallied for a $15.00 per hour federal minimum wage. They claim that hiking the minimum wage will ensure that working people are well compensated and able to pay their bills without working multiple jobs just to survive. In pushing this false narrative, Democrats have furthermore asserted that anyone who opposes a $15.00 per hour minimum wage has no regard for America’s working class.
Now, time and time again, conservatives have pointed out that raising the minimum wage is counterproductive. It also doesn’t truly help working people because the free market always adjusts to added expenses of this nature.
Once again, conservatives have been proven right; Fox News just recently reported that business owners in New York City are struggling with the higher minimum wage. In order to compensate, they are laying off workers from their establishments and cutting back the number of hours which employees are working.
Reviewing the Strain on New York Establishments
The aftermath of raising the minimum wage hit New York entrepreneurs earlier this year. Despite Democrats’ refusal to acknowledge this, mandates to pay higher amounts of money for hourly employees is an added expense. Businesses which are on a tight budget or otherwise struggling will understandably take steps to protect themselves and their establishments.
This is something which Lido Restaurant owner Susannah Koteen knows all too well. Koteen has roughly 40 employees working for her and is feeling the negative impacts of the $15.00 per hour minimum wage. Therefore, for the sake of the business, Koteen has been forced to reduce employee hours, raise prices, and crack down on overtime work.
Her statements about the minimum wage hike in New York read as follows:
“What it really forces you to do is make sure that nobody works more than 40 hours. You can only cut back so many people before the service starts to suffer.”
The Solution to Low Wages
The solution to low wages is not to raise the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour or to any other number. Instead, working people who dislike being paid minimum wage should individually take steps to ensure that they are qualified for more lucrative jobs. Seeking employment in a new field is always an option, as is starting a business. Certain jobs were never meant to be serve as lifelong careers and this is why so many people are struggling.
The irony of all this is that if you talk to virtually any Democrat, they will bemoan the perils of so-called trickle down economics. What they don’t realize or don’t seem to care about is the reality that increasing the minimum wage is peak trickle down economics.
Collectively raising the prices on business owners has never been an effective solution to help the working class. As demonstrated by the situations which are happening in New York, the free market always adjusts.
What do you think about what’s happening to business owners in New York? Sound off in the comments section down below!
