Let's imagine someone working a standard full-time job. They put in the same hours as everyone else. Constraints make it so you can't really have 1.5 of a job o

Let's imagine someone working a standard full-time job. They put in the same hours as everyone else. Constraints make it so you can't really have 1.5 of a job or two, not really, not sustainably, so they have one job. If an employee at the end of the month ends up having some kind of disposable income, that's a great result. If an employee at the end of the month ends up not having some kind of disposable income, but still have their needs met, that's an okay result. But if they put in as many hours as everyone else and their income dips below some logistical threshold their work becomes unsustainable. Either someone else has to pay for their continued living or they sink. Now since companies figured out that government will help people on the verge of sinking, they would gradually lower pay below the threshold, while government makes up the difference from everyone else's pocket. They would do that, they /are/ doing that, so to combat this government imposes a minimum wage. Not to say, that there aren't jobs that make sense to be below minimum wage, but the big bad actors force government's hand, just like one liar destroys everyone's trust in everyone else.