To start, this is subjective. We cannot throw a blanket over the idea of “if those who provide it cannot afford it then you're underpaying” but the premise still stands for a large chunk of the economy. When those who provide help to the homeless and poor are qualified for the service they provide, and the very workers making your food can't afford to enjoy the meal they prepare, it's clear that continued underpayment will only lead to downfall.
Again, this is subjective. Obviously we can't expect the boat worker to be able to afford an entire warship, or the oil worker an oil field of their own BUT we should fully expect to be able to afford a basic order at Dennys without spending hours of wages thrown at it.
There's 2 points I'd like to make with this argument.
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If those you ask to work cannot afford what you provide then eventually your marginal output will decline to unsustainable levels. Obviously a business that spends more than it makes cannot survive, and you cannot expect increased output per person as your staff dwindles. If you don't put in what you ask be put out then you can't expect someone to work twice as hard without twice the pay
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Output =/= profit. If you provide a product or service that cannot be afforded by those who make it then who is your target audience and how often do you truly expect them to use it. What I mean by this is if a product can be afforded by 100% of people then we can assume that output can be at 100% capacity as it's a 1:1 ratio. However as we know this is not how it is. As soon as we get to 1 in 10 people being able to afford it we just cut out 90% of our potential audience and suddenly expect that 10% to support an entire business. This gets complicated of course as clearly for now atleast it has worked to some extent but we can see how this burden has affected the economy daily with price hikes, non operational/0 profit days, and people straight up choosing to just let the product die as its utility does not outweigh its cost.
The solution is simple and has been exemplified multiple times with with companies like gravity payments and dicks drive in. Liveable wages=higher output = higher input = higher quality of living all around. When you put in what you want taken out then everyone is happy. You can't expect someone to do what you need them to do if you don't pay them accordingly.
TLDR; Overall what I'm trying to get at is this: Eventually there will come a time that what you provide makes itself obsolete as no one has the means to afford it which means no one ever needed it to begin with. The point of a product or service is to convince people they need it and there is no need if there is no one to afford the cost. Once that happens your business will crash and burn.
From,
Your financial educator who just wants you to get what you deserve. Never stop chasing a life that you can be comfortable in.