They made minimum wages too high in California ($20/hour) and now all kinds of restaurants are closing because of it. Demand too much from your employer, and you won't have an employer.
And yet employers give themselves, their CEOs and CFOs, multi million dollar Christmas bonuses, live in mansions, drive Rolls Royces while they're complaining about paying people, that actually make them rich, a living wage.
From 1977 to 1981, federal minimum wage was increased from $2.30 AN HOUR to $3.35; From 1989 to 1991, it was increased from $3.35 to $4.25; Minimum wage has NEVER been what anyone could thrive on that's why it's called "MINIMUM Wage"; And from 1995 to 1997, it was increased from $4.25 to $5.15