the concept that all jobs should provide a "living wage" again becomes subjective. Who gets to define what is a "living wage"
One can try and say the poverty level but someone needs to put meat on the bone. Does a living wage mean a car less than 5 years old for each driver?
Does it mean a separate bedroom for each family member?
Must all TVs be at least 42 inches?
should they have air conditioning?
If they have children, should their salary be increased for every child they choose to have?
In other words, the person selling you tickets at the theater who has 3 children should be paid a lot more than the 16 year old teenager. Would that not be "fair" and provide the "living wage" ?
Most companies will pay the minimum wage if there is profit to be made. No profit = no businesses or jobs.
They will obviously make less profit when min wage goes up but can adjust prices to compensate. If the min wage went up so high as to eliminate profit they would close.
The story we keep on hearing though is that less profit = closed businesses. Which is nonsense. If you can prove that business would lose all profit from a rise in min wage then you have a point.