Minimum wage is defined as "the lowest wage permitted by law or by a special agreement (such as one with a labor union)." It's also the amount of money that every high school and college student makes working part-time summer jobs.
In most cases, the minimum amount that a worker must be paid is set by each state's law, though the federal government has set a $7.25 an hour baseline that has not changed in almost a decade. The state wages, however, have increased over time due to inflation. The minimum wage in some states is higher than it is in others.
BUT the amount of pay is hardly enough for anyone to live on.
If you think about the term "minimum wage," it's basically saying that if employers were able to get away with paying their employees literally nothing, they would.
(Though with the Trump administration, I would not be surprised if a bill making that legal was ever introduced. But anyway.)
I hate to say it, but America is a country literally run by corporations and the one percent. And those corporations and one-percenters have absolutely no sympathy for the working, middle and lower classes. You know, 99 percent of the country?
So a corporation's profits may go up, but those profits will certainly not be passed on the store employees.
In 2016, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York passed legislation that the statewide minimum wage would increase to $15 by 2021. Many business owners complained that this would lower employment and kill the economy.
However, studies have shown that higher wages put more money into the pockets of workers. And these workers, in turn, put more money into the economy by buying things. Because, you know, they can now afford them.
Not to mention, higher pay at their jobs could mean that employees are happier at said jobs, ensuring better service and increased profits for the businesses in question.
And trust me, the billionaire CEOs of major corporations will never be short of money, even if they did start paying their employees a decent amount. They're just greedy.
Look at the tax
scam bill that Congress just passed back in February. The tax cuts are for big business and those making six figures a year, including the politicians. The rest of the country? We get to pay higher taxes! Yay for the GOP-written bill!
This means that those of us who are stuck working one or more minimum wage jobs have to then turn around and use our meager paychecks not only to pay taxes but to feed ourselves, continue to pay rent/mortgage and provide for our families if we have them.
Minimum wage is a reflection of how the U.S. runs on capitalism, and capitalism can kill the middle and lower classes - aka average Americans.