2. Is there a way to "legislate" people into a "living wage"? A number of people argue that the minimum wage should be raised to a higher amount, which allows individuals to be able to live off these earnings. However, when minimum wage is raised, unemployment goes up and the cost of goods increases as companies pass along the increase to consumers. So, a lot of the increase in wages will be off-set by higher costs. Won't there always be jobs that pay much less based off of education level, the level of skill required, etc.? Is there a better way to address this problem other than simply raising the minimum wage