13.
The Sub-Minimum Wage Law
One revision to the minimum wage law that was considered during the
1980's was the idea of a sub-minimum wage for those under the age of 21.
The motivation for this movement came from a number of the larger cities'
Black mayors. Black teenage unemployment in these cities -- Washington,
D.C., Gary, Indiana, Newark, New Jersey, and others -- was running in
the range of 55% or more. It became so obvious that the cause of these
atrocious rates of unemployment in this population was due to the minimum
wage law, that these mayors were calling for a relaxation of the law.
They realized that if it were legal to pay a lower wage to teenagers,
many more teenagers would find gainful employment, helping their families
and staying out of trouble. Though this proposal was ultimately not
successfully implemented, it did have the virtue of acknowledging the
ills of the minimum wage law. However, the reasoning which leads one
to call for a sub-minimum wage for teenagers to keep from destroying
their job prospects is exactly the same reasoning which should lead
one to call for the elimination of the minimum wage law itself. So,
is the sub-minimum wage law a good idea? Yes, but only as a first step
to the elimination of the entire notion of a minimum wage law!
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