Comment by zo1

Probably would, but it's really just shifting the costs elsewhere. With the "welfare-tit" as you call it, the taxpayers are paying the cost of the poorish via welfare paid for by taxes. But when you increase the minimum wage, it'd end up just shifting the costs to higher overall prices, which everyone will bear... including the poor it's meant to help. I suppose you could argue that this might cut into business owners' profits, but that's a stretch. As they'd most likely just raise prices to cover the new operating costs.