Minimum Wage Hike Study Shows Nearly 30,000 Jobs Lost

Will your kid be one?

March 8, 2013

Earlier this week, upon the passage of a minimum wage increase in the New York State Assembly, Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney (R,C,I-New Hartford) pointed out the faulty logic of raising the minimum wage on small businesses in New York.

“The Assembly majority has unilaterally taken a swing at small businesses today. Their altruistic intent of increasing income through a government-imposed mandate will result in fewer jobs for New Yorkers. According to several studies from organizations and professionals from places like Cornell University, American University, The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and the Business Council of New York State, Inc., an estimated 22,000 to 29,000 jobs would be lost if we raise the minimum wage,” said Tenney.

Recent statistics reveal that 55 percent of minimum wage earners are younger than 25 years of age. Over 68 percent of workers receiving minimum wage are part-time workers.

“The jobs lost by increasing the cost of doing business in New York State will directly impact our youth, who desperately need to develop work experience to put them on a path to self-reliance. An employer who now has to make up for thousands of dollars in increased payroll and insurance costs will now be faced with layoffs of many unskilled, often young, workers in their employ.

“This is a direct hit to New York’s number one industry - agriculture. Family farms are becoming an endangered species in the business world. In order to succeed, family farms are dependent on a plethora of government programs and subsidies to produce goods while just breaking even.

“Dairy farmers also face a dire situation as they are being hurt by the bureaucratic intervention from the federal milk order program, which determines the price of milk, not the free market. Comprehensive tax relief and the repeal of burdensome regulations are more important to helping our farms succeed and offer more and better opportunities to employees,” said Tenney.

“The state’s excessive regulation of our small businesses needs to stop. Albany bureaucrats must stop impeding the success of our small-business community. In 20 years, an estimated 50 percent of all manufacturing jobs have left this state. New York has been listed as 50th in the nation for business-friendly climate. The 24 percent minimum wage hike will continue the exodus of jobs and employers from this state. Our task is to provide an environment for job creation, not to force businesses out of state or to close their doors for good.

“Our private-sector industries have an opportunity to succeed; not only here, but on a global scale. Their success will create real jobs and provide opportunities for all New Yorkers to make a better life for themselves and their families,” said Tenney.

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