> The way to protect workers is to shift the burden of health care and other costly benefits onto the government, supported by taxes. Then there is no risk to hiring a new employee beyond the wages you pay them.
That's still the same problem. If the taxes that fund the health care are paid by employees then a living wage would have to be higher to account for having to pay the taxes. If they're paid by the employer, there goes the money they were going to use to hire the employee, or they have to raise prices and we're back to causing a higher cost of living.
Taxes aren't magic. The money still has to come from somewhere. The actual problem is that housing and health care cost too much. It's necessary to solve that regardless of who is paying for them, at which point there is no longer a pressing need to try to shift the burden somewhere else, because the burden is no longer so onerous.
That's still the same problem. If the taxes that fund the health care are paid by employees then a living wage would have to be higher to account for having to pay the taxes. If they're paid by the employer, there goes the money they were going to use to hire the employee, or they have to raise prices and we're back to causing a higher cost of living.
Taxes aren't magic. The money still has to come from somewhere. The actual problem is that housing and health care cost too much. It's necessary to solve that regardless of who is paying for them, at which point there is no longer a pressing need to try to shift the burden somewhere else, because the burden is no longer so onerous.