Minimum Wage

Step 1: Identify the Question

The wording supports the claim in the question stem indicates that this is a Strengthen the Argument question.

Step 2: Deconstruct the Argument

Workers: can’t survive on min. wage

Govt: raise min wage?

Employers: min wage ↑ → # of workers ↓ → unemployment ↑

© min wage ↑ → unemployment NOT ↑

This is an unusual argument in several ways. First, it includes three separate perspectives: those of the workers, the government, and the employers. Second, the conclusion you need to strengthen is actually in the question stem, not in the argument itself. That conclusion is that raising the minimum wage will not have the effects that the employers predict.

Step 3: Pause and State the Goal

Since this is a Strengthen question, the right answer will support the conclusion. That conclusion is that the employers are not correct about the minimum wage. The right answer will show that increasing the minimum wage might not increase unemployment.

Step 4: Work from Wrong to Right

(A) CORRECT. A living wage refers to a wage on which a worker can survive. In the argument, the workers state that the minimum wage is not a living wage. In order to resolve the workers’ complaint, the minimum wage would need to be raised to at least equal a living wage.

According to this answer choice, employers currently have difficulty finding and retaining employees if their positions do not pay a living wage. This difficulty increases employers’ costs. In fact, according to the answer choice, it adds just as much to employers’ costs as increasing wages would. If the minimum wage was raised, and employers kept the same number of employees, these employers would incur both an increase in costs (since they’d have to pay more in wages), and a decrease in costs (since they’d have to spend less on finding and retaining employees). These costs would balance out, meaning that employers would not need to reduce their workforce to save money. Thus, unemployment would not increase.

(B) This answer choice states that raising the minimum wage would not cause employers to incur another additional cost—the cost of increased benefits. However, the cost of employing the same number of workers would still increase, since the cost of wages would be higher and the cost of benefits would be the same. Therefore, the employers’ argument, that they would be unable to employ as many workers, is still sound.

(C) This answer choice suggests that the minimum wage proposal is generally reasonable. However, the conclusion specifically relates to the effect of the proposal on unemployment, not whether the proposal would raise wages to levels out of line with past practices. The answer choice does not give any information specifically regarding unemployment as it is unknown what unemployment levels were when the minimum wage was introduced.

(D) This would actually support the employers’ claim, since it would cause an even greater increase in the employers’ expenses.

(E) The employers claim that they would not be able to afford to employ as many workers after the minimum wage increase. This is still a reasonable argument even if some of the workers currently make much more than the minimum wage. The employers would have to pay at least some of their employees more than they do currently, and this would increase the employers’ costs, meaning that they couldn’t employ as many people.