Adriana Schumacher

How minimum wage laws harm and exclude

December 1, 2023

Basic Economics

I believe the best social program is a job. Ronald Reagan For more than a century, a growing number of governments have established minimum wage laws, setting a baseline for workers' compensation and prohibiting employers from offering salaries below this legally defined threshold. While the intention behind such laws is to ensure a higher standard of living for workers and protect them from potential abuses, their practical effects yield the opposite outcome. Instead of elevating living standards and safeguarding workers from poor conditions and low pay, minimum wage laws lead to