The minimum wage is on the rise in the U.S. Thirty states, the District of Columbia, and at least 68 localities have set hourly compensation above the federal floor of $7.25. New York City, Long Island, and Westchester are at $17. In California, fast-food establishments are required to pay their workers $20 per hour.
Advocates for these laws point to academic studies that claim higher minimum wages don't cost jobs. Many of them use statistical techniques that generate misleading results or are misinterpreted by the media. A 2024 paper published in The Review of Economic Studies titled "Minimum Wage Employment Effects and Labor Market Concentration" didn't get as much press attention as some studies in this canon, but the paper is still worth examining because its statistical missteps are typical of academic research published in prestige journals.
