Raising the state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022 would lead to 93,000 fewer jobs across Illinois and reduce the state’s real output by over $56 billion over a 10-year period, according to a new report from the NFIB Research Center.
According to the report, the toll would be especially high for small businesses. “Raising the (state) minimum wage to $15.00 per hour from its current level is the equivalent to raising the cost of labor for employers of minimum wage workers by 82 percent,” the report says. “Nearly 56 percent of the forecast job losses are jobs that would have been in the small business sector of the economy. Read the full report here (PDF).
“Small businesses rely heavily on entry-level, hourly workers,” said Mark Grant, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, Illinois’ leading small-business association. “Small businesses will bear the brunt of the cost, and their employees will pay the price in the form of fewer jobs and fewer opportunities.
“Small businesses operate on notoriously thin margins,” Grant said. “If the government mandates an increase in the cost of labor, employers have two options. They can raise prices, or they can try to get by with fewer workers. If you can’t afford as many workers, you’re going to be very careful about the workers you do hire. You’re going to want employees you know can do the job. You can’t afford to take a risk on people with little or no experience.
“The truth of the matter is that Illinois can’t afford to pass any legislation that makes it even harder for small businesses to expand and create jobs,” Grant said. “We need the Legislature to stop playing politics and pass a budget and work with Governor Rauner to help Illinois attract and keep good-paying jobs.”
To learn more about NFIB in Illinois, visit www.NFIB.com/IL and follow @NFIB_IL on Twitter.
