This year, it’s harder than ever for teens to find a summer job. Researchers at Northeastern University described summer 2007 as “the worst in post-World War II history” for teen summer employment, and those same researchers say that 2008 is poised to be “even worse.”....

According to economist David Neumark of the University of California at Irvine, for every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage, employment for high school dropouts and young black adults and teenagers falls by 8.5 percent. In the past 11 months alone, the United States’ minimum wage has increased by more than twice that amount....

There’s no end to the economic data that confirm these common-sense observations. Research from the University of Georgia, the University of Connecticut and Cornell University indicates that increasing the minimum wage causes four times more job loss for employees without a high school diploma than it does for the general population. [TheExaminer.com]

I worry about a lot more than a few high school kids earning extra income during the summer. When minimum wages go up, it is the most vulnerable applications -- poor minorities -- who get shoved out first. Every year a person spends unemployed, they are losing out on critical years of experience which would have helped them move on to the next employment tier. Ultimately, you're shaving off those high-end wages they would have earned in their peak working years.

And some will find themselves permanently priced out of the job market.

Don't worry, though. The government is here to help "solve" -- in some token, non-effective, but self-congratulating way -- the very problems it (well, really you, the voters) helped create.

In Massachusetts, the Boston Youth Fund will put 3,600 teenagers between 15 and 17 years old to work this summer, but the ratio of applicants to jobs is more than 2-to-1. The state has seen a 33 percent decline in teen employment over the past eight years. It’s no coincidence, then, that in the same time period the state’s minimum wage has soared.

In Arizona, Pledge-a-Job is a government-funded organization dedicated to increasing the number of job opportunities available to youth. But this summer, its task is a tall one. According to the group’s coordinator: “There’s no doubt about it. Summer jobs will be tough to find this year.”

One final note: In a world of narcissism- (excuse me, "self-esteem-") installing educators and absentee parents, menial summer jobs and other forms of entry-level work is one of our society's few remaining institutions which teach courtesy, patience, tenacity, and teach one to cope with criticism. I hate to see those opportunities reduced.