I should preface this by saying that I'm all in favor of a boost to minimum wage. In my state alone, $7.25/hr certainly isn't enough to live on and I wouldn't mind seeing a change. But why not to something more reasonable, like $9-10/hr? Going from $7 to $15 overnight seems like a huge jump. I'm no economist, so I acknowledge everything I'm about to say is probably going to sound incredibly stupid, but I guess that's why I'm posting here.

The way I see it:

John and his co-workers at the same fast food restaurant are paid $7.25 an hour and can barely afford to pay the rent on their apartments, feed their families, keep the lights and water turned on, etc. A federally-mandated raise suddenly means their paychecks double each month, but wouldn't that mean that eventually, rent, food, and utilities would too? After all, "the top" who not only pays the salary of "the bottom" must provide those utilities and goods as well, and the difference has to be made up somewhere.

Additionally, how does this effect Jacob, who pre-wage increase, was ALREADY earning $15/hr at his office job? Will he get a pay raise? Will his rent go up? Will he eventually struggle just as John did? Would it be appropriate for him to ask for a raise, as he now finds himself technically earning minimum wage for a job he's been doing for 5 years?