“For many financially struggling families, such price increases would mean the weekly trip to McDonald’s would no longer be affordable.”
An un-discussed consequence covers the other side of this: with the price of a family meal out at McDonald’s going from $20 to about double that, many will decide that a nice sit-down dinner isn’t much more and just go there instead. I’d rather spend $35-40 at Bahama Breeze for real food and real service than $30+ at a jacked-up-minimum-wage McD’s for grade-D meat on a nutrition-free bun “served” on a tray.
Those who can’t afford it vs. those who see much better options for a few bucks more. Minimum wage narrows the customer base.
Raising minimum wage to $12.00 / hr would not double expenses. Labor is only 25% of the total coast of fast food.