Really? Please back that up with actual data or studies. If labor costs go up equally then a business isn't at a competitive disadvantage. Small businesses also often get tax breaks and the like as part of minimum wage increases. In the end they often get helped by a minimum wage increase. At a minimum it isn't a slam dunk in any way that 'they make small businesses unviable' while it is very clear that it makes lives better for employees [1].
Finally, if a business isn't creating jobs that provide a living wage then it shouldn't be allowed to exist since those employees are likely being subsidized by taxpayers for the gap between what the business is paying and what they need to live on. Put simply, I don't want to subsidize a business so that it can avoid paying its employees.
> If labor costs go up equally then a business isn't at a competitive disadvantage
The classic low wage job is flipping burgers. Everyone with a kitchen is a competitor to this business, and if restaurants all raise prices in lock step, it stands to reason at least some people will cook at home instead.
> if a business isn't creating jobs that provide a living wage then it shouldn't be allowed to exist ... I don't want to subsidize a business so that it can avoid paying its employees.
I doubt you meant it this way, but that's a fascinating argument against progressive taxation.
> The classic low wage job is flipping burgers. Everyone with a kitchen is a competitor to this business, and if restaurants all raise prices in lock step, it stands to reason at least some people will cook at home instead.
And meanwhile there will be more people with more money in their pockets able to now go out and get a meal somewhere. The secondary effects are many and you can't isolate price increase without looking at the new demand created. It may seem odd, but when you pay people more they end up spending more. [1]
Additionally, part of the problem here is the perception that 'The classic low wage job is flipping burgers.' with the implication that that is just for high school kids so not a real job. Unfortunately this whole country runs on gig and minimum wage jobs (or worse). Enabling these jobs is just a route to funneling money up and increasing the wealth gap. People are doing an honest day's work and should be paid enough to live on that. Any argument to short-change them is an argument that society has to pick up for the slack of the employer. Are you suggesting we increase taxes to pay for that gap? Because that is what actually happens. So, why not. But instead of taxing me for a bad employment model, let's instead put a huge wealth tax on businesses that pay less than a minimum wage and then use it to pay for all the social programs that are needed to keep that workforce alive. I don't personally like that idea but at least then the costs of cheap labor would be put onto the places abusing it and not me.
Instead of subsidizing a business that provides some value and pays some wages, we then end up without the business, and with unemployed folks. These folks don't cease to exist, we don't want to tell them "go away and die", do we? So now the taxpayer pays the whole cost of keeping these folks alive, instead of a part of it, and the folks are possibly worse off, unless they find something to do with their time to earn an extra buck. And that something is usually not a legal employment.
Your assumption that the business will fail was the assumption I initially challenged. That assumption isn't well backed by data. As I pointed out, small businesses often actually get benefits from a minimum wage increase and people that get wage increases spend more money so it isn't a slam dunk that small businesses will be worse off much less automatically fail.
Yeah. Economic effects are rarely cut and dry and the actual impact of a minimum wage increase is highly dependent on a lot of factors so pretty hard to say one way or another. But one thing is clear, minimum wage increase do help the employees. So we have one clear benefit to employees, no clear benefit or detractor to employers and a clear benefit to me personally (which is what I really care about) in that I don't have to subsidies bad businesses. With all that in mind it looks clear to me that increasing the minimum wage to a living wage is the right answer.
Finally, if a business isn't creating jobs that provide a living wage then it shouldn't be allowed to exist since those employees are likely being subsidized by taxpayers for the gap between what the business is paying and what they need to live on. Put simply, I don't want to subsidize a business so that it can avoid paying its employees.
[1] https://irle.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Small-B...