RIPLEY, N.Y. -- Meeder's, a cozy diner nestled in New York's southwest corner, has seen its labor bill skyrocket in recent years amid steady increases in the state's minimum wage.To cover the costs, its owners have lifted menu prices and bought new equipment, including a mixer that allows
RIPLEY, N.Y. — Meeder’s, a cozy diner nestled in New York’s southwest corner, has seen its labor bill skyrocket in recent years amid steady increases in the state’s minimum wage.
New York’s southern border, where Meeder’s sits, is one useful case. The state has been gradually lifting its minimum wage since late 2013, so that it now stands at $11.10 and is set to hit $12.50 by 2020. Fast-food workers earn even more, currently at least $12.75. Pennsylvania, immediately to the south, has stuck by the $7.25 federal minimum.
The Times looked at the data several ways: zooming in on the restaurant industry, leaving out the contentious counties, and comparing counties like Chemung, Broome and Delaware only with their immediate neighbors. Each data slice showed a similar pattern in which neither side clearly won or lost when it came to employment but New Yorkers in affected industries earned more.
Dube looked at California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York and Maine, all of which had raised pay to at least $10.50 by 2018, directly affecting almost 20% of their workforces. He found no discernible employment effect across the group, even for workers with low education levels.
Restaurants in Chautauqua have seen annual pay climb by about 30% since 2012, the year before the first minimum wage increases were announced. Those in Erie have climbed by just 14%. Restaurants in Chautauqua have continued hiring since then, government data show. “They can go to McDonald’s and get a job for $12.75,” Southworth said. As the general minimum wage converges toward that level, she will have to downsize further. “At some point, I will probably have to close.”
It is hard to know whether that is a result of the higher wage floor. New York posted strong hiring in 2013, 2014 and 2015, when minimum-wage increases were announced and then getting underway for non-tipped restaurant workers. The recent drawdown could stem from employers realizing they did not need as many new workers. Or it could be that employers were able to handle slightly higher wages, but a steeper floor for tipped employees pushed some to cut back.
David Neumark, an economist at the University of California, Irvine, warns that results in New York and other high-wage states would not necessarily map to other regions.
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