Youth@Work is an initiative of the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County. The WDC is a private, nonprofit organization that oversees employment-related programs for youth, adults, and employers across King County. Our annual budget of approximately $20 million is administered by a staff of 30 and an active board of directors made up predominantly of local business leaders. The WDC’s funding comes from the U.S. Department of Labor as well as from private foundations...
Staff or 30 & an annual budget, funded by US taxpayers, and what do you expect they would 'find'? To put it another way, what does one suppose they were looking for?
I'd speculate that they were 'looking for' ways to get increased funding or 'justification' for the funding they're getting.
Back to the $20 million. $20 million in payroll would fund 4000 summer jobs @ a generous (for teens) $5000 in wages for a summer job.
Absent from the discussion is that Washington (state) has the highest minimum wage in the US ($7.16 per hour) and that the mandated minimum wages extends to include restaurant workers.
Bill Would Study Whether State's High Minimum Wage Is A Good Thing
In King County, employment among teens 16-19 dropped 28 percent from 2000 to 2003, the report says.
Historical perspective, minimum wage, Washington State. 1999--$5.70 per hour. 2000--$6.50; 2001--$6.72; 2002--$6.90; 2003--$7.01; 2004--$7.16; 2005--$7.35.
IOW's, the minimum wage increased 23% (1999-2003) and the 'surprise' is that youth worker employment levels dropped 28%?
The inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage is 26% lower in 2004 than it was in 1979. In addition, comparing the wages of minimum wage workers to average hourly wages, we find that the wages of minimum wage workers have not kept up with the wages of other workers. The minimum wage is 33% of the average hourly wage of American workers, the lowest level since 1949.
To say that this is a problem of wage is silly as the minimum wage is much lower than it has historically been.