Minimum Wage Hurts More Than It Helps

Illinois continues to impose a high minimum wage rate, putting itself at another disadvantage and giving businesses and entrepreneurs one more reason to leave Illinois and set up shop elsewhere.

by Kate Piercy

The Cato Institute released a video by Orphe Divounguy, a Ph.D. student in England, entitled “The job-killing impact of minimum wage laws,” which reviews the economic arguments and impact of the recent minimum wage increase.

The Illinois Policy Institute recently released a policy paper on hurtful regulations in Illinois, offering ideas on how Illinois could offer a more friendly environment for entrepreneurs and businesses here. The paper suggests implementing legal and regulatory improvements in the following areas:

1. Workers’ Compensation
2. Minimum Wage
3. Licensing and Fees

Illinois has had a higher minimum wage rate than the federal government since 2003 when former Gov. Blagojevich increased it to $6.50 per hour. Illinois’s rate will increase to $8.25 this July.

Just as Cato’s video argues, the regulations paper discusses how a high minimum wage rate actually hurts more people than it helps, bringing about additional, unnecessary barriers to success for young or low-skill workers.

Yet, Illinois continues to impose a high minimum wage rate, putting itself at another disadvantage and giving businesses and entrepreneurs one more reason to leave Illinois and set up shop elsewhere. For a look at the whole paper, check it out here.