<Tr> <Th> Arguments in favor of minimum wage laws </Th> <Th> Arguments against minimum wage laws </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> <P> Supporters of the minimum wage claim it has these effects: </P> <Ul> <Li> Positive impact on small business owners and industry . </Li> <Li> Removes financial stress and encourages education, resulting in better paying jobs . </Li> <Li> Increased job growth and creation . </Li> <Li> Increases the standard of living for the poorest and most vulnerable class in society and raises average . </Li> <Li> Increases incentives to take jobs, as opposed to other methods of transferring income to the poor that are not tied to employment (such as food subsidies for the poor or welfare payments for the unemployed). </Li> <Li> Stimulates consumption, by putting more money in the hands of low - income people who spend their entire paychecks . Hence increases circulation of money through the economy . </Li> <Li> Encourages efficiency and automation of industry . </Li> <Li> Removes low paying jobs, forcing workers to train for, and move to, higher paying jobs . </Li> <Li> Increases technological development . Costly technology that increases business efficiency is more appealing as the price of labor increases . </Li> <Li> Increases the work ethic of those who earn very little, as employers demand more return from the higher cost of hiring these employees . </Li> <Li> Decreases the cost of government social welfare programs by increasing incomes for the lowest - paid . </Li> <Li> Encourages people to join the workforce rather than pursuing money through illegal means, e.g., selling illegal drugs </Li> </Ul> </Td> <Td> <P> Opponents of the minimum wage claim it has these effects: </P> <Ul> <Li> Minimum wage alone is not effective at alleviating poverty, and in fact produces a net increase in poverty due to disemployment effects . </Li> <Li> As a labor market analogue of political - economic protectionism, it excludes low cost competitors from labor markets and hampers firms in reducing wage costs during trade downturns . This generates various industrial - economic inefficiencies . </Li> <Li> Hurts small business more than large business . </Li> <Li> Reduces quantity demanded of workers, either through a reduction in the number of hours worked by individuals, or through a reduction in the number of jobs . </Li> <Li> May cause price inflation as businesses try to compensate by raising the prices of the goods being sold . </Li> <Li> Benefits some workers at the expense of the poorest and least productive . </Li> <Li> Encourages employers to replace low - skilled workers with computers, such as self - checkout machines . </Li> <Li> Increases property crime and misery in poor communities by decreasing legal markets of production and consumption in those communities; </Li> <Li> Can result in the exclusion of certain groups (ethnic, gender etc .) from the labor force . </Li> <Li> Small firms with limited payroll budgets cannot offer their most valuable employees fair and attractive wages above unskilled workers paid the artificially high minimum, and see a rising hurdle - cost of adding workers . </Li> <Li> Is less effective than other methods (e.g. the Earned Income Tax Credit) at reducing poverty, and is more damaging to businesses than those other methods . </Li> <Li> Discourages further education among the poor by enticing people to enter the job market . </Li> <Li> Discriminates against, through pricing out, less qualified workers (including newcomers to the labor market, e.g. young workers) by keeping them from accumulating work experience and qualifications, hence potentially graduating to higher wages later . </Li> <Li> Slows growth in the creation of low - skilled jobs </Li> <Li> Results in jobs moving to other areas or countries which allow lower - cost labor . </Li> <Li> Results in higher long - term unemployment . </Li> <Li> Results in higher prices for consumers, where products and services are produced by minimum - wage workers (though non-labor costs represent a greater proportion of costs to consumers in industries like fast food and discount retail) </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <P> Supporters of the minimum wage claim it has these effects: </P> <Ul> <Li> Positive impact on small business owners and industry . </Li> <Li> Removes financial stress and encourages education, resulting in better paying jobs . </Li> <Li> Increased job growth and creation . </Li> <Li> Increases the standard of living for the poorest and most vulnerable class in society and raises average . </Li> <Li> Increases incentives to take jobs, as opposed to other methods of transferring income to the poor that are not tied to employment (such as food subsidies for the poor or welfare payments for the unemployed). </Li> <Li> Stimulates consumption, by putting more money in the hands of low - income people who spend their entire paychecks . Hence increases circulation of money through the economy . </Li> <Li> Encourages efficiency and automation of industry . </Li> <Li> Removes low paying jobs, forcing workers to train for, and move to, higher paying jobs . </Li> <Li> Increases technological development . Costly technology that increases business efficiency is more appealing as the price of labor increases . </Li> <Li> Increases the work ethic of those who earn very little, as employers demand more return from the higher cost of hiring these employees . </Li> <Li> Decreases the cost of government social welfare programs by increasing incomes for the lowest - paid . </Li> <Li> Encourages people to join the workforce rather than pursuing money through illegal means, e.g., selling illegal drugs </Li> </Ul>

Where did the $15 minimum wage come from