In the first episode of Season 4 of YTWL hosts River Scholl and Ellen Quale are joined by guest host Maria Picar to discuss the campaign to raise the federal minimum wage and the positives and negatives of expanding America's biggest rental assistance program — Section 8.

Below are some of the pros and cons for raising the federal minimum wage:

Pros:
Raising the minimum wage would increase economic activity and spur job growth.
The Economic Policy Institute stated that a minimum wage increase from the current rate of $7.25 an hour to $10.10 would inject $22.1 billion net into the economy and create about 85,000 new jobs over a three-year phase-in period.

Increasing the minimum wage would reduce poverty.
According to a 2014 Congressional Budget Office report, increasing the minimum wage to $9 would lift 300,000 people out of poverty, and an increase to $10.10 would lift 900,000 people out of poverty.

A higher minimum wage would reduce government welfare spending.
If low-income workers earned more money, their dependence on, and eligibility for, government benefits would decrease. The Center for American Progress reported in 2014 that raising the federal minimum wage by 6% to $10.10 would reduce spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) by 6% or $4.6 billion.

Cons:
Increasing the minimum wage would force businesses to lay off employees and raise unemployment levels.
The Congressional Budget Office projected that a minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $10.10 would result in a loss of 500,000 jobs. [5] In a survey of 1,213 businesses and human resources professionals, 38% of employers who currently pay minimum wage said they would lay off some employees if the minimum wage was raised to $10.10. 54% said they would decrease hiring levels.

Raising the minimum wage would increase poverty.
A study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that although low-income workers see wage increases when the minimum wage is raised, “their hours and employment decline, and the combined effect of these changes is a decline in earned income… minimum wages increase the proportion of families that are poor or near-poor.” [47] As explained by George Reisman, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Pepperdine University, “The higher wages are, the higher costs of production are. The higher costs of production are, the higher prices are. The higher prices are, the smaller the quantities of goods and services demanded and the number of workers employed in producing them."

A minimum wage increase would hurt businesses and force companies to close.
60% of small-business owners say that raising the minimum wage will “hurt most small-business owners,” according to a 2013 Gallup poll.

Source ProCon.org