25, states can set their rate higher and the FLSA forces all employers to comply with the state minimum wage, regardless of it being higher.
Living on Minimum Wage.
It is commonly known that the minimum wage – even in states with higher-than-federal rates - is insufficient enough to support a family. From this came the concept of a "living wage," which has gained popularity, as people have explored other ways to find a wage level adequate enough to support a respectable standard of living in America. It is a widely believed myth that the most minimum wage workers are just teenagers. Contrary to what is believed, most low-waged workers whose pay is affected by minimum wage are adults with families to support. In fact, 88 percent of people who would benefit from an increase in minimum wage are 20 or older (United States Department of Labor). As said before, the current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which comes out to be only $15,080 per year for a full-time, year round worker (Minimum Wage Question and Answer). According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator, a person living in Washington D.C. must earn $13.68 an hour to make ends meet (Glink, 2013). In New York it is $12.75, in Chicago it is $10.50, and in San Francisco it is $12.83 an hour to make ends meet (Glink, 2013). When I give you these numbers too, it does not mean that people who make this are doing well. If people made this amount of money, it would be enough to just scrape by in those cities. You wouldn't be able to have extra amenities like shopping, going out to dinner, or vacation trips. Not to mention that when you have a kid, the cost of living usually doubles (Glink, 2013).
The hourly rates stated above are higher than the even more generous minimum wage standards that are set by certain states and cities. If people are not even making enough money to scrape by, how do we expect them to face another problem: rising house costs.
