You're subsidizing those wages with your tax dollars. You're paying billions per year to make those low incomes livable. In the end it's just corporate welfare:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/04/15/report-...
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/19/walmart-and-mcdonalds-among-...
https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/a-downward-push-the-impact-...
It's not the case that they wouldn't employ people. They're not employing people now out of the goodness of their heart.
If they paid living wages (as they should) you'd pay less. Good businesses pay their costs.
But as it is, the likes of Walmart and McDonald's are privatizing their profits and socializing their costs.