The minimum wage: does it hurt workers? | The Economist

Joe Biden has pledged to raise America’s national minimum wage to $15 an hour. Economists traditionally believed that minimum wages actually hurt workers, but recent research has led to a rethink. Sign up to The Economist’s newsletter to stay up to date: Find all of our finance and economics coverage: Why does low unemployment no longer lift inflation? Why a surge in inflation looks unlikely: What the Big Mac index tells you about currency wars: Read our special report on the world economy: Economists are turning to culture to explain wealth and poverty: What is the economic impact of the latest round of lockdowns? Could the pandemic cause economists to rethink welfare? Why governments can borrow more than was once believed: Why Joe Biden’s proposed sti