I think this is just an implementation issue; I'm totally fine with the government paying a living wage to people if they have the money. The issue here is the

I think this is just an implementation issue; I'm totally fine with the government paying a living wage to people if they have the money. The issue here is the law actually gives employers a choice: "pay living wage" or "pay nothing by not hiring someone" and I'm afraid they'll choose the latter too often. I'm worried that if you set the living wage too high, you'll push employers to take that choice more often; it'll be a nice-looking policy, but more people might be suffering. A proposal which eliminated the "don't hire someone" choice would be more effective - either Earned-income tax credit (where employers truly compete economically, and the government fills in the salary gap up to a living wage), or direct employment by government. Both of those are less distortionary and I think achieve both of our goals - people having enough money to have good lives.