Ideally it makes sense to include the total income and expenses for an individual. For example, if that person currently is paid $10/hr in San Francisco, they would not be able to afford the high cost of living in that area and would then be dependent on welfare. If an individual makes $10/hr in another area, that may be perfectly fine. I think some companies take advantage of desperate workers and can make more profit by underpaying, but the flip side is also true that if I were college-educated and making $20/hr, I would be upset if the minimum wage is now $20 and I did not receive an equal percentage raise in my pay. No different than saying that we should just erase all student-loan debt. I'm sure many would be happy that they don't have to pay back all of that money, but someone who already paid off their wouldn't be benefited the same. I see the argument of teaching people to fish and negotiate for better pay, but I also see how some situations can make that difficult or impossible to do.