This week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4899, an emergency spending bill to provide money for summer jobs and disaster relief.
If Congress were serious about getting teens jobs this summer, it would rethink what has undoubtedly been an employment disaster: increasing the minimum wage during a recession.
In 2007, Washington increased the minimum wage. The increase took effect in increments, hiking the wage from $5.15 in 2007 to $7.25 today. This increase raised costs for businesses, especially small businesses. Higher costs on businesses means fewer total workers can be hired. Teenagers were hit the hardest.
Between July 2009 (the month of the last incremental min wage raise) and February 2010, the number of teenagers employed in part-time work fell by 15 percent (equal to 602,000 teenagers). The number of teenagers in full-time work fell more than 6 percent.
In comparison, the number of part-time workers, regardless of age, fell less than 1 percent. The number of full-time workers, regardless of age, declined 1 percent, as well. The unemployment rate for teenagers also rose much faster than the entire population.
Congress should at least explore the causes of teen unemployment before allocating millions more to bolster summer jobs. Not to mention that an alleged $400 million in stimulus funds remain unspent for this program.
