Under the leadership of president Obama, The US is a testing ground for the evaluation of the labour market policy. This official report by the CBO, The American Budget Office, stressed the obvious trade-off when increasing the minimum wage: on one hand an improve of the income for those who can keep a job, on the other hand a worsening of the job opportunities for those who, especially at the lower end of the labour market, are looking for a job. The impact on the level of activity and career opportunities of the disadvantaged people vs. the selective upgrade of the family income. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Read more:

http://www.cbo.gov/wp-content/uploads/old/cbofiles/attachments/44995-MinimumWage.pdf