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To put teens to work, lower the minimum wage
August 2012 · Michael Saltsman · The Bergen County Record
AS TEENS head back to school this month, any number of parents across the country are breathing a collective sigh of relief. For an alarming number of teenagers, their summer days were spent at home on the couch instead of acquiring work experience at a local restaurant or grocery store. The teen employment crisis has lasted through a fourth summer, and the unemployment rate for young jobseekers… -
The Dems’ 220 percent mistake
August 2012 · Michael Saltsman · Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
President Obama and Mitt Romney keep sparring over who has the best plan to stimulate the economy. Now, more than 100 House Democrats have offered a plan of their own: Raise the federal minimum wage by 35 percent and raise the minimum wage for employees who earn tip income (e.g. restaurant servers) by 220 percent. Those familiar with the research on the minimum wage would chuckle at… -
Advocacy replaces scholarship in minimum wage debate
July 2012 · Michael Saltsman · The Hill
Determined to see President Obama make good on a campaign pledge to raise the federal minimum wage to $9.50, four Congressmen have introduced bills to make this promise a reality. (A number of states have considered similar bills this year.) Advocates for a higher minimum wage—most notably, the National Employment Law Project (NELP), the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), and the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP)—have… -
Sick-leave law unhealthy
May 2012 · Michael Saltsman · Boston Herald
You can tell the legislative season is drawing to a close when unpopular bills with little interest among legislators are resurrected in force. Witness the renewed push for an employer sick-leave mandate in Massachusetts, bolstered by a study from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) claiming a net financial benefit for the state of $74 million each year. To read the study, you would think that… -
Teens in New Jersey need jobs, not a raise
May 2012 · Michael Saltsman · The Daily Record
The 40 percent increase in the federal minimum wage between 2007 and 2009 priced more than 114,000 young adults out of a job. NATIONALLY, our employment numbers are slowly improving. But for young Americans looking to advance their careers and develop marketable skills, there’s been little relief. Teen unemployment still stands at a daunting 24.9 percent, and has been above 20 percent for more than 40 months.… -
We’re Killing Job Opportunities, Creating Hardships
July 2011 · Rick Berman · Washington Examiner
A recent survey by the Britain’s National Health Service found 352,000 households where no one has ever held a job. And 68 percent of the adults in those households said they don’t want one. Generous unemployment benefits and welfare subsidies — including $34.4 billion spent annually on housing, with some families receiving as much as $160,000 to maintain posh London flats — have combined with job-killing minimum-wage…