When people are working minimum wage jobs and not earning enough, it is hard to get by. One example of this was researched by a woman working a minimum wage job in today's working world.
"Nickel and Dimed" is a research story by Barbara Ehrenreich. Ehrenreich wrote about her experiences as a low wage worker in Florida, Minnesota, and Maine. She quickly discovered that the amount of money she earned was not enough to support her and her rent for a trailer near the restaurant where she was a waitress. Just from that section in Ehrenreich's book, the conclusion can be made that people working can also be living in poverty (Ehrenreich). .
In the United States, our ability to keep up with the cost of living increases has become more and more difficult. Adults are constantly having to work to live. In 2012, there was a study done on how much money people had left after they had paid their rent. The study found that "49% of their monthly income was spent on rent, leaving $4.40 per family member per day for food and everything else" (Grant et al.). That statistic is showing that many are being left without any money. With little money, living begins to be more of a struggle. With adults having to pay for their children's activities in school, and for the little things, it can hard without any extra cushion of money. If the adults aren't able to support their family, it comes to the point where children have to drop out of activities in school to work because the parents can't pay for them. "The population in schools has changed over the past years from 24 percent low income (as measured by the number of students on free and reduced-price lunch) to 60 percent low income" (Payne 9). This shows that the individuals working their minimum wage jobs aren't earning enough income to live, or support their families. Without an education, getting a high-end job can be very difficult.