Re Higher Wages, Fewer Jobs (June 16), by Michael Baker and Dwayne Benjamin: It's no wonder they call economics the dismal science. Apparently, the working poor can have jobs, or decent wages, but not both.
However, as the article suggests, adult low-wage workers have been found by most economists to benefit from reasonable hikes in the minimum wage. Any small negative impact on hours worked is outweighed by the positive impact on hourly wages.
It is entirely possible to combine lots of jobs with a high wage floor, as shown by Denmark, which has a higher employment rate than the United States and virtually no working-poor families. The trick is to raise productivity in low-wage jobs.
With about one in five adult Canadian women and one in 10 adult men earning below $10 an hour, minimum-wage increases deserve to be on the policy agenda.