Is it a good idea to raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hr? Although many people believe raising the minimum wage federally would be beneficial, some do not take into consideration the real cost of a higher minimum wage. We must think about the effects that it will have. Such as, the economy experiencing inflation. Businesses will have to adjust the prices of their goods and services to accommodate to this change. Employers may have to cut employees because they may not be able to support the extra employees on the new minimum wage. Virginia has researched the effects of raising the minimum wage across various cities. In the poorer cities,where the average wage is below $15/hr, they found that it would be harmful to raise the minimum wage. The reason is because it would hurt the small businesses who needed to cut employees, and the costs of goods rose. Smaller businesses would not be able to make that big of a jump in wage change, and they could go out of business. In cities where their average wage is above $15/hr, that area would be able to easily adjust to the change in wage. There is reform needed for the minimum wage. However, we should think about raising the minimum wage separately by states instead of federally. Every state has a different cost of living, such as California and New York compared to Pennsylvania and Arkansas. Therefore, not all states need that $15/hr minimum wage. Also, small businesses are what make a community unique, so we wouldn’t want them go out of business. Instead of raising the minimum wage federally, we should raise the minimum wage differently by states.