Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson flip-flopped on his stance on the minimum wage during the fourth GOP debate Tuesday night, saying that he does not support raising the pay rate.
In May, Carson told CNBC that the $7.25 per hour minimum wage should be raised: "I think, probably, it should be higher than now." He reasserted that position in the second Republican debate in September, saying he would "probably, or possibly" raise the minimum wage.
However, on stage Tuesday, Carson said, "I would not raise it specifically, because I'm interested in making sure that people are able to enter the job market and take advantage of opportunities."
Debate moderators from Fox Business Network and The Wall Street Journal started the discussion on minimum wage by asking the candidates if they were sympathetic to protests held nationwide on Tuesday by low-wage workers demanding $15 per hour minimum pay.
"Every time we raise the minimum wage the number of jobless people increases; it's particularly a problem in the black community," Carson said. "I can remember as a youngster, you know, my first job working in a laboratory as a lab assistant, and multiple other jobs, but I would not have gotten those jobs if someone had to pay me a large amount of money. But what I did gain from those jobs is tremendous amount of experience and how to operate in the world and how to relate to different people and how to become a responsible individual and that's what gave me what I needed to ascend the ladder of opportunity in this country."
He concluded, "That is what we need to be thinking about. How do we allow people to ascend the ladder of opportunity and rather than give them everything and keep them dependent."
According to a 2014 report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, increasing the minimum wage would have two main effects on low-wage workers: "Most of them would receive higher pay that would increase their family's income, and some of those families would see their income rise above the federal poverty threshold. But some jobs for low-wage workers would probably be eliminated, the income of most workers who became jobless would fall substantially, and the share of low-wage workers who were employed would probably fall slightly."
