This is another case of what economist Thomas Sowell calls first stage thinking. Yes, at first glance it appears raising the minimum wage would benefit lower income people. But the reality is, it will cause more of them to be unemployed. That has been the case from the introduction of a minimum wage through every increase. Each time, more low income people end up unemployed.

I don’t pretend to have the answers for people like your two aunts. For many the answer is to move to where the jobs are. Some people are unwilling to do that. But they make that choice. As for severe medical situations, that has nothing to do with a minimum wage.

As for your aunt who was in prison, I don’t want to sound heartless but there are real world consequences for making bad choices. I do not see why it should be the responsibility of private employers to take up the slack she created in her life.

The reality is that most people who are stuck in low paying jobs later in life are where they are because of bad choices they made in life. But even then, they can do what it takes to get ahead. If your aunt is stuck in a low paying job in an area where there are few opportunities, she can move. Many others have been in as bad or worse circumstances but chose to do what it took to overcome those circumstances. It can be done if you have the will and determination to do it. But the responsibility is the individual’s, not government’s and not private business’s.