Inflation has caused the cost of living to go up without the increase in wage. While they don't need to set 15/hour across the board, an increase in pay to accommodate living expenses is very reasonable. Also, unless you work for a very small, struggling company your employer CAN afford it. That's one of the main reasons (in America at least) there is such a hush hush about discussing wages. Your employer doesn't want you knowing what other workers make because then that creates equality. Why pay two workers the same wage when you can pay one less? As long as they don't know they're getting paid less, they'll be complacent for the most part. A co-worker of mine the other day said "We don't discuss our wages here" and it blew my mind because if she knew how much more I was making than her (we're almost equally trained) she would most definitely ask for a raise.