text: if minimum wage increases - will you  benefit or be worse off ? if the current minimum wage is raised to $7 an hour, will your wage increase or stay the same?  try honest , thought out answers.  at the same time the cost of living will increase as companiess raise their prices to cover their employees wages.    most minimum wage jobs are starter jobs for students or for people to gain experience.  my son has worked 2 years at a job to now earn $8 an hour. now is worried about across the board increases which will effect making his car payment, buying gas and eating. he fears no longer being able to eat . increasing the minimum wage will force employers to pay more for labor.  in response, companies find ways to reduce labor cost, usually by making more capital investment.  with new efficient machinery and equipment, companies no longer need all those employees and they start laying people off.  unemployment rises and the economy slows down.  this has been a consistent and recuuring theme with unions and automakers.  the result is 90% of the "minimum wage" workers get raises and the other 10% get laid off.  those 10% find it increasingly difficult to find work because all employers have found ways to produce more with fewer employees through automation.  the companies that are unable to automate (lack of funds or lack of technology) are forced out of business, creating even more employment.  the cycle repeats itself over time and the workforce gets smaller and smaller, gradually getting replaced with automation.  that is one of the reasons why the manufacturing employment in the united states has been dropping over the last 30 years while manufacting output has been rising over the same period.  if you are the one getting the raise, you are better off.  if you are the one getting laid off, you get hurt.