Study: Minimum Wage Kills Hours and Jobs

We don’t want to say “I told you so,” but we totally told Democrats so, or at least we tried! A newly released study on the impact of Minneapolis and St. Paul’s minimum wage finds that the mandate leads to fewer work hours and fewer jobs. Minneapolis lost about 5,400 jobs and St. Paul lost 3,800 from 2018 to 2021.

City council members in Minneapolis and St. Paul ignored the mountain of evidence proving a minimum wage hike would kill jobs and opportunities, but did they pay any attention? Not one bit. Minneapolis passed its ordinance in 2018 and St. Paul in 2020.

It did not take long for researchers to see the effects of this devastating mandate. Initial findings of the study released in 2021 showed a decrease in restaurant jobs, but researchers set the data aside chalking it up to the effects of the pandemic. People’s livelihoods are nothing to dismiss! The retail and restaurant industries felt the largest impacts of the minimum wage hike. Hours and jobs shrank by more than 20%, and in some cases, by more than 40%. 

The findings of this study join the heap of evidence proving that mandating minimum wage kills jobs and opportunities. The benefits absolutely do not outweigh the consequences. Lawmakers in Minneapolis and St. Paul need to walk back these disastrous policies before more livelihoods are lost.

Click here to learn more about the study.