[machiaweliczny]

Minimum wage gives more efficiency to spending power. These people are subsided anyway but if they are given foodstamps it's inefficient (I don't know how it work in US but here people won't eat most of it, even if poor, unless starving).

So if your goal as economy is to select for producing nice products at affordable rate then adding purchase decision to low income workers is best way to let them get out of powerty. Maybe they don't need shitty food produced by rich folk with connections to gov but computer for their childeren or some tool to start business?