We raise minimum wage in order for people to afford to live, but does raising minimum wage actually encourage inflation? I have yet to come up with a definitive answer to this question.

When cost of living increases, people need to make more in order to adjust, but at the same time, when the wages goes up, the cost of living tends to go up with it. Do landlords and the like raise prices because the consumer can afford to pay them again.

Basically, we seem to increase minimum wages in states, only to have the cost of living go up to a point where nothing has changed.

Instead of making $6.10 an hour or $200 a week and paying $400 for a shitty apartment, people used to make $0.60 an hour or $24 a week and paid $16 in rent for the same shitty apartment.

Those numbers aren't researched, so don't try hard to disprove them. I'm inebriated and simply trying to start a conversation. If you have actual historical costs, please feel free to post them. The numbers sound close to right though, and that's enough for me at this point.

The point is, does raising minimum wage actually accomplish anything other than causing even more inflation?

If we stopped raising the minimum wage, would inflation stop increasing at the rate it currently is. Obviously there are other factors that cause inflation, like our national debt and the printing of money we can't back, but would things work out if we stopped raising minimum wage or would there simply be rampant homelessness?

Also, in the 80's and before that, middle class families (for the most part) could afford to send kids to college, provide them housing, and give them allowances. Now most can't, we are required to work while being full-time students and the average 4 year degree is taking 5-6 years to complete.

For example, after hurricane Katrina, when everyone around here got there $2,000 to $4,000 from FEMA, the price of the apartment we were living in rose from $550 a month to $770 in just a few months.

That was simply a short-term influx of money, so isn't it logical the same happens when minimum wage increases?

Is it logical you could reverse inflation if you lowered minimum wage?
JaggedEdge Reviewed by JaggedEdge on . Does raising minimum wage cause inflation? We raise minimum wage in order for people to afford to live, but does raising minimum wage actually encourage inflation? I have yet to come up with a definitive answer to this question. When cost of living increases, people need to make more in order to adjust, but at the same time, when the wages goes up, the cost of living tends to go up with it. Do landlords and the like raise prices because the consumer can afford to pay them again. Basically, we seem to increase minimum wages in Rating: 5