For any position with wages below a living wage, the difficulty of finding and retaining employees adds as much to employment costs as would raising wages. Many employers who pay some workers only the minimum wage also pay other workers wages that are much higher than the minimum. Raising the minimum wage does not also increase the amount employers have to contribute in employee benefits. When inflation is taken into account, the proposed new minimum wage is not high as the current one was when it was introduced.
In Stenland, many workers have been complaining that they cannot survive on minimum wage, the lowest wage an employer is permitted to pay. The government is proposing to raise the minimum wage. Many employers who pay their workers the current minimum wage argue that if it is raised, unemployment will increase because they will no longer be able to afford to employ as many workers.
Which of the following, if true in Stenland, most strongly supports the claim that raising the minimum wage there will not have the effects that the employers predict?