The New York Times has agreed to print a correction of this article about the minimum wage issue, which includes inaccurate information implicitly attributed to Empire Center senior fellow Russell Sykes.
Here’s the final paragraph from the original article, with the offending passage in boldface:
Russell Sykes, a senior fellow at the Empire Center for New York State Policy, said raising the minimum wage would not be as helpful to poor families as the earned income tax credit. For a single mother who earns the minimum wage and has two children, for instance, the state and federal credits would increase her annual income to more than $21,000 a year, or the equivalent of about $10.50 an hour, Mr. Sykes said. But that family would stand to become ineligible for the credits under a minimum wage increase.
The last statement was not only never made by Rus – it is also inaccurate regardless of its attribution. In fact, the hypothetical family in question would only lose about $230 of its EITC benefit, and would not become ineligible as the article states.
Rus’ has written a thorough overview of why the EITC is a more practical and targeted solution to low wages and poverty than a minimum wage increase. The Empire Center also recently issued “Making Work Pay in New York,” his Policy Briefing paper on the EITC.
About the Author
You may also like
“Protecting” Low Wage Workers — From Employment
As Labor Day weekend arrives, another push by Albany legislators to hike the state minimum wage is gaining steam. Read More
Minimum wage for home care aides is likely to mean bigger raises for downstate than upstate
The newly enacted wage hike for home care aides is likely to increase workers' pay more than three times as much in the New York City area as in other parts of the state, according to a review of labor data.
Read More
The flawed arguments behind ‘Fair Pay for Home Care’
As they contemplate a major increase in Medicaid spending on home care for the elderly and disabled, state legislators are relying on information that's outdated, incomplete or inaccurate – and neglecting to think through the predictable consequences. Read More
State Tax Receipts Strong Again in November, But Jobs Recovery Remains Slow
New York State's tax receipts in November were a whopping $800 million above Governor Cuomo's projections for the month—further evidence that the current-year budget gap is probably much smaller than Cuomo has been claiming.
Meanwhile, however, priva Read More
Cuomo NYSDOL to Struggling Small Biz: Your Employees Will Soon Cost More
Despite the crushing impact of pandemic restrictions on small businesses throughout New York, the state Labor Department announced late today that it will move forward with a big minimum wage increase scheduled for the end of the month. Read More
Study: EITC makes people healthier
Here’s another reason to celebrate New York’s Earned Income Tax Credit: It measurably improves the health and longevity of those who receive it. Read More
Not his father’s wage subsidy?
As part of his ongoing push for a statewide $15 minimum wage, Governor Andrew Cuomo repeatedly has denounced what he calls “the mother of all corporate loopholes.” In Buffalo this week, he amped up his rhetoric, reportedly charging that “business is stealing from taxpayers of this state.”
Cuomo wasn’t referring to any of the notable business tax giveaways he has personally promoted, such as the $420 million a year the state doles out to wealthy film and TV producers, or the state's $750 million speculative investment in billionaire Elon Musk’s solar panel factory in Buffalo, or the 100 percent tax exemptions that will flow to the handpicked corporate occupants of START-UP NY zones. Read More
Cuomo’s wage proposal in context
How would a proposed $15-per-hour statewide minimum wage compare to current pay ranges and historical precedents in New York? Read More