Does a living wage hurt or help?
The debate over the living wage is whether or not it hurts or helps. The controversy isn’t settled by empirical research, which is also divided in its findings, USA Today reports. Michigan State University researcher David Neumark found that living-wage ordinances do cause job losses, but those same laws lead to pay increases that have the potential to compensate for the losses. As a result, family poverty decreases: Neumark found that a living wage that is 50 percent higher than the state’s minimum wage will raise the average wage of low-income workers by 3.5 percent. While businesses face higher costs because of living-wage laws, employers cannot reach a consensus on the movement. Barry Hermanson, who runs a San Francisco employment service, told USA Today that higher wages lead to more company loyalty and less employee turnover. “The business gets the benefits from better customer service,” he says. “And it’s a good thing for business to pay people a wage they can live on without re
