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Require Teens Be Paid Less so Businesses Will Hire More Teens

Apparently Kansas City is raising its minimum wage to $13 by 2020, with a carveout for teens. This has caused grumbling amongst advocates for job-killing wage hikes. But Jordan Weissmann notes why this is not a terrible idea:

Could that nudge businesses to hire a few more 11th graders instead of adults who are trying to support their families? It's possible. But unless you think we should be actively pushing teens out of the labor force, it's also worth weighing the chance that a high minimum will end up denying young people some crucial early years of job experience. The bigger the increase, the more that becomes a concern, and the more prudent it may be to let employers pay teens a little less.

Indeed, I would go so far as to say that this is not only not a terrible idea, it is in fact a very good idea. Teenagers learn valuable skills by being forced to deal with the realities of minimum wage labor: the importance of showing up on time, the importance of working as a team to get a job done, the importance of learning how to perform basic customer service, etc. These jobs instill a sense of responsibility and provide a training ground where the stakes are low and failure isn't catastrophic.

I'm a big believer in forcing kids to work a menial task of some sort during their formative years. I've always thought that the forced volunteerism that pervades many schools—the requirement that a senior do x number of community service hours in order to receive their diploma—is asinine. Working a blood drive or manning a fun run is nothing like doing real work. When I am king, teens will be forced to do something substantial instead. Flipping burgers, say. Or picking up golfballs at the nearest driving range. You know: something that won't change the world but will make them wonder about the meaninglessness of life.

But in order for those jobs to exist, we need commonsense rules like those coming to Kansas City. If we allow the marketplace to price unskilled teenagers out of the market altogether, they lose a valuable learning opportunity. Won't someone please think of the children?