Letter to the editor: Why minimum wage must be increased

George Will’s March 4 column “The mildly encouraging minimum-wage debate” deals with the danger of raising the wage of workers. Will argues that raising wages kills jobs and slows economic growth. I believe there is ample evidence to suggest the exact opposite.

A 1994 Princeton study compared the results of New Jersey raising the minimum wage while Pennsylvania did not. The study found an increase in employment in New Jersey, but not in Pennsylvania.

Twenty-plus years of research confirms the Princeton findings. An increase in wages for those making minimum wage results in an increase in spending which, in a consumption-driven economy, stimulates economic growth.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, every $1 per hour in wage increase for a minimum-wage worker results in a $3,500 yearly increase in their spending. Through the decades, we have learned that trickle down and austerity during an economic downturn does not improve the situation, but stimulating growth does. We also know if minimum wage had kept pace with gains in productivity — as it did from 1938 to 1968 — minimum wage would be $24 an hour.

Minimum wage needs to be increased now.

Michael Garing

North Huntingdon