Minimum Wage Hike: Will It Help Or Hurt?
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On raising the minimum wage to $15. When labor costs go up, prices go up - it’s called economics. When labor goes up a lot, prices go up a lot. So now the people who got a raise aren’t much better off because even though they are making more, the price of everything has gone up. Also, all the people who were already making $15 or more are now much worse off because they didn’t get a raise, and the price of everything has gone up. A hamburger now costs $20 which most can’t afford so they don’t go out to eat. Restaurants lay people off or close due to lack of business, and the ripple effect damages everyone in the supply chain. The people who can afford to go out to eat don’t tip like they used to because they are already paying $20 for that hamburger and the server is making $15/hr. Now the server who used to make a lot more than $15/hr with tips is earning a lot less, has their hours cut or is out of a job completely. It sounds like a lovely idea, but in reality it hurts the lower and middle income people the most.