STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): It is one of the big rallying cries of the political left ahead of 2020: raise the minimum wage.
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DOOCY: And just last month Democrats in the House advanced a bill to more than double the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by the year 2024. But a new study finds those hikes may make some neighborhoods less safe. The study authors write, “We find robust evidence that minimum wage hikes increase property crime among -- arrests among teenagers and young adults age 16 to 24, a population for whom minimum wages are likely to bind.” That's a quote we pulled out of the Wall Street Journal this week. Here to explain, Brandon Tatum, the director of engagement -- urban engagement at Turning Point USA and a former Tucson police officer. Good morning to you, Brandon.
BRANDON TATUM (TURNING POINT USA): Good morning.
DOOCY: So is there a correlation between raising the minimum wage and crime?
TATUM: Yeah, there's a direct correlation, OK? When you have young folks competing for jobs, low-skilled workers are getting pushed out of the workforce. Young people are getting pushed out of the workforce, they have nowhere to go. And when you have feel a sense of disenfranchisement, and you feel like that you're worthless to your community, you're not contributing, then we see young people resort to crimes. Starts out small crimes, maybe selling marijuana, retail theft. And you can see those crimes increase in young people getting involved in more violent crimes, home invasions, and other crimes that are, you can say more felonious. So it's a direct correlation. Young people need jobs. And it really keeps them out of getting in trouble.
