Some workers will wait in a queue of unemployed workers seeking the minimum wage jobs. Others may find it optimal to accept employment in a sector which is not subject to minimum wage. Thus, theory predicts that some workers will benefit from an increase in the minimum wage, while others will be unable to find jobs because businesses will reduce the number of unskilled workers they hire. Most research into the effects of the minimum wage on employment have focused on the demand for teenage workers since they are primarily inexperienced and low skilled workers. As is often the case in the social sciences, the empirical evidence is mixed.
Most research finds that the minimum wage has reduced employment among young people.
The estimates vary, but they cluster around a reduction in teen employment between 1 and 3 percent for each 10 percent increase in the minimum wage. Recently, however, some researchers claim to find evidence that a higher minimum wage actually increases employment among teenagers. These new results remain controversial, and after hundreds of studies there is no consensus about effects of minimum wage on employment. The effect of the minimum wage increase in practice will depend on how many workers have their wages raised, and how many workers fail to find employment or lose their job because of the higher wage. If the number of workers who are affected by the higher minimum wage is very small, then it is unlikely that a small change in minimum wage would have substantial effect on employment opportunities in Hawaii.