$7.50 an hour in Connecticut or California would be impossible to live on as the cost of living in these states is much higher than the average. In a state like Tennessee or West Virginia, the cost of living is much lower, therefore, allowing one making minimum wage to afford to live. Another issue to take into account is where the burden falls. A locally owned business cannot necessarily afford to pay employees $15 an hour and may buckle, layoff employees, or both. Similarly, even though chain stores are owned by a large corporation that is, in many cases, multinational, they are still franchises, which means that there is a chance that the store is locally owned as well by a franchisee. While the corporate offices of, say, MacDonald's could certainly afford to pay employees a higher wage, the franchisee, especially one in lower income or less populous areas, might not be able to.
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