The Progressive-Democrat-run government of California has placed on its November ballot a proposal to require a State-wide minimum wage of $18 per hour. The Wall Street Journal editors provide some data, citing a Beacon Economics study.

• 90% of the 130,000 newly unemployed in California during the past two years were under age 35
• Between the first quarters of 2022 and 2024, unemployment among those ages 16 to 19 increased to 19.2% from 10.8% in California, versus 11.9% from 10.5% nationwide
• Unemployment among those 20 to 24 years old also ticked up 1.3 percentage points in California, while declining 0.7 percentage points nationwide
• unemployment averaged 3.2% in the 20 states that followed the federal minimum wage compared to 4.1% in the 15 with minimums between $14 and $17
• fast-food employment in California has declined 3.2% over the last five months while increasing 3.6% nationwide
• fast-food prices in California increased 3.7% after the higher minimum took effect in April

The editors asked a question: Are they trying to keep teens out of work? It’s far broader than that.

Where do these unemployed go? To Government for early on unemployment insurance and for long-trm welfare payments. The youth—those 16-19 years old and 20-24 years old—who start out dependent on Government for handouts have very little hope of breaking that dependency; it’s hard enough for adults who’ve been and are being priced out of low-skill jobs. Especially in an economic environment so riddled with these Progressive-Democrat policies.

That dependency on government, though, is votes for that government’s incumbents and preservation of those incumbents’ power.