Welfare dependency and the minimum wage

By far the most common argument minimum wage proponents put forward is that we need to raise the wage to reduce the number of people who qualify for govt assistance. I see that argument here, I see it among congressmen, etc.

Here is why this argument is bunk

1) Raising the minimum wage will not reduce welfare dependency. According to the CBO, a $15 minimum wage will cost around 2.5-3 million jobs. That is 3 million people who will be using even more welfare. A 15 minimum wage will also result in hours cut for those who didn't lose their jobs. Depending on how many hours are cut for a typical min wage worker, they could end up qualifying for even more assistance post 15 minimum wage.

2) Wage rates and govt assistance are completely unrelated issues, according to basic econ 101. In market economies, wages are determined by the marginal revenue product a worker produces. If an employer pays a wage that is way less than the value of the product a worker produces, a competing employer will bid away that worker. This bidding process has an end result where the wage is equal to the value of the product. Public assistance has nothing to do with it.

An employer who underpays an employee will, in the long run, lose that employee to a competing firm.

Employers do not determine wage rates, market forces do.

More philosophically speaking, if society believes that all workers should have a minimum standard of living, then the society as a whole should fund that floor through general tax revenue. It would be unfair to put the entire burden on a business owner.