It is not a net benefit. It is a net loss for society, as less wealth is produced, so society in general gets poorer. It is also a net loss for those that become unintentionally unemployed. The overall salary mass is not raised, but reduced.
I would also add it is completely illegitimate to prohibit a voluntary agreement based on some supposed "greater good".
Your assertion that no minimum wage means "shitty wages for everybody" is unfounded. Wages are determined by productivity, and it's no possible to raise real wages (taking into account other goods prices) with a law. Only an increase in produced wealth can raise wages.
Edit to add: If you imply that the "unintentionally unemployed" ones are a unlucky few, that's not the case. As you would probably know, official unemployment levels are around 20% in some EU countries, while real levels are probably way above that. That means a whole lot of people is not allowed to produce nothing because of minimum wage laws. The wealth prevented from being created is huge.
That is not true. Underemployment does not benefit anyone: it does not provide the employee with a living wage and results in an unproductive workforce. You can't change the fact that there is a minimum amount of money necessary for a reasonable existence, and going below it is just a means for temporary exploitation of workers, in some (although possibly farfetched) fashion similar to slavery.
Subsistence work with no possibility of improvement does not provide society with a net benefit, but only creates a class of permanent poverty marred by undernutrition and an inability escape the tactical issues of living paycheck to paycheck, and it's an especially important issue in a country such as the US where health benefits are few and time off is minimal.
If minimum wage is taken away, market force WILL drive down the wages, but there will be no social benefit, as it will only result in denying opportunities to a very large sector of society.
A reasonable existence is a completely subjective value. Someone with a $5/hour wage today would live better than some kings some centuries ago. So it does not exist that "minimum amount of money".
Society takes a loss. The less wealth is produced, the poorer the society is. It's as easy as that.
What denies opportunities is denying someone the possibility of working because he's not productive enough.
I would also add it is completely illegitimate to prohibit a voluntary agreement based on some supposed "greater good".
Your assertion that no minimum wage means "shitty wages for everybody" is unfounded. Wages are determined by productivity, and it's no possible to raise real wages (taking into account other goods prices) with a law. Only an increase in produced wealth can raise wages.
Edit to add: If you imply that the "unintentionally unemployed" ones are a unlucky few, that's not the case. As you would probably know, official unemployment levels are around 20% in some EU countries, while real levels are probably way above that. That means a whole lot of people is not allowed to produce nothing because of minimum wage laws. The wealth prevented from being created is huge.