There are plenty of sound arguments against raising the minimum wage, almost all of which are centered around the negative economic impact that raising the minimum wage would have. Time and time again, minimum wage increases have led to businesses firing employees and, in many cases, closing their doors for good. However, one consequence that even those who oppose minimum wage increases are unlikely to have foreseen is the correlation between minimum wage increases and increased crime that we have recently discovered.
In cities that have raised the minimum wage in the dramatic fashion that those on the left are calling for, crime has increased. The explanation for this correlation between minimum wage increases and increased crime is simple – when low-skill workers are forced out of the workforce due to companies no longer being able to afford their salary, they often turn to illegal sources of income.
By removing the livelihood of low-skill workers by making their services too expensive to justify, we are forcing would-be law-abiding citizens to turn to a life of crime in order to keep food on their table. While increasing the minimum wage may sound ideal on paper, there are plenty of real-world consequences such as this that must be taken into consideration.
To learn more about the correlation between increasing the minimum wage and crime, be sure to check out the video below.
