raising bc’s minimum wage…bad or good?

Raising BC’s minimum wage could cost more than 52,000 jobs and reduce opportunities for young workers

Release Date:

January 7, 2009

VANCOUVER, BC—Raising BC’s minimum wage to $10 per hour could result in a loss of as many as 52,000 jobs, concludes a new peer-reviewed study from independent research organization the Fraser Institute.The study, The Economic Effects of Increasing BC’s Minimum Wage, examines the research on the effects of increases to minimum wages in Canada and around the world and calculates that an increase in BC’s minimum wage to $10 per hour from $8 per hour will result in job losses ranging from 10,898 jobs to 52,200 jobs. “This is a conservative estimate that only looks at the impact on teen and youth workers,” said Niels Veldhuis, Fraser Institute director of fiscal studies and co-author of the report. “Increasing BC’s minimum wage to $10 per hour will have a profoundly negative effect on employment opportunities for young and low-skill workers, and will have almost no effect on those most in need of income and a job.” Unions and other activists have been lobbying the BC government over the past year to increase the province’s minimum wage to $10 per hour. But while the campaign has been high on emotional appeal, it lacks facts and data to support its position. The Fraser Institute study examines existing academic research from Canada and around the world that studied the effects of increases to minimum wages and finds the overwhelming consensus is that increasing the minimum wage has a significant negative impact on employment, particularly for younger workers. Past experience across Canada showed that a 10 per cent increase in the minimum wage is likely to decrease employment by three to six per cent among all young workers aged 15 to 24. For those young workers most directly affected – earning between the current $8 per hour wage and the new $10 per hour wage – the impact is more acute, leading to employment losses of 4.5 to 20 per cent. The report also points out that higher minimum wages have other negative effects, including fewer benefits and less training for workers. Higher minimum wages can also induce high school students to drop out of school and search for employment. “Fewer employment opportunities and less education and training are particularly harmful, given that experience and skill development are important drivers of higher wages,” said Keith Godin, co-author and a Fraser Institute senior policy analyst. upside: any one who is going form $8 to $10 is going to have a great out come from this they get more money for the same amount of work they were doing before. down side: every one that is making 8 dollars and hour there may be an upside for some of them but on the other hand its also putting people out of their jobs. another person that would not bennifit from this is any owner of a buisness, they would be forced to fire lots of people because they would not be able afford having as many workers as they did when they were paying 8 dollars

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