Democrats’ Minimum Wage Hike Would Make Life Less Affordable: Study
20th August 2026
A new study estimates that Democrats’ proposal to increase the federal minimum wage to $25/hour would cost the U.S. economy 5 million jobs and especially harm workers ages 16 to 24.
“Politicians on the Left are making empty promises that minimum wage hikes will magically fix the cost of living crisis without doing their research,” Rebekah Paxton, research director at the Employment Policies Institute, told the Daily Signal in a statement Thursday.
“The vast majority of economists agree these mandates will kill jobs, leaving families without the paychecks they depend on,” she added. “Here’s the truth: Sky-high mandates will only make life more unaffordable for millions of Americans.”
The market price is the market price, Every attempt to manipulate prices politically (whether called ‘price controls’ or ‘minimum wages’) leads either to rationing or ‘black-marketeering’. The result of minimum wage laws is that low-skilled workers who aren’t worth that minimum to an employer get no jobs at all. Markets work as markets work, and they don’t care about your legislation or political fantasies.