Why It's Safe to Raise the Minimum Wage

"The best guess is that workers who remained employed saw a quarterly increase in earnings of about $184. If you live in a low-income household, $736 a year is a substantial sum. On the other hand, if you live in a low-income household, “no wages at all” is catastrophic.

Of course, these effects are likely to increase as the higher wages phase in. The earnings increases will grow, but so will the number of people who see their hours reduced or who can’t find work at all, or who have to take on a new and less attractive commute because they can no longer find a job in Seattle. We will have to wait to see whether the costs and benefits rise together, or one eclipses the other."