Roughly 350,000 Wisconsin workers would lose their jobs if the state’s minimum wage was raised to $15 an hour, according to a new Badger Institute report.
More than a third of the state’s workers currently earn less than $15 an hour. The report suggests almost one-third of those workers would be at risk of losing their jobs if the state quickly increases its minimum wage.
Half of all job loss from the raised minimum wage would come from the bottom 10% of the income distribution, and 90% would come from the bottom quartile of the income distribution. The report estimates 50% of all affected workers in food preparation and service would lose their jobs.
More effective methods exist to improve the state’s poverty levels, such as expanding the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit, the report states.