This has been caused by Obamacare. That is, lots of low level employees have been terribly squeezed because their employers *have* to limit the number of hours they can work, or else *has* to pay exorbitant fees to the federal government.
So, “thanks, Obama”.
The most effective way to deal with this is to come up with some way of slashing these employees’ rents, which is their biggest single expense. Rents ‘float’ based on the local economy, to consistently amount to around half of the net income of those who rent there. Very inflated for what you get.
A group of small businesses could get together and basically buy and refurbish an apartment building for their employees, and only their employees, to live in. This must be done carefully, because if you rent to someone at substantially lower rents than are found in the area, the IRS will tax you for the rents you *could* have made.
So there will have to be a lot of number crunching involved, to come up with a good deal both for the businesses, that can then pay a lower wage, and the employees, who will at the same time make *more* money than if they were paid $15/hr.
McDonalds will have automation.