Minimum wages are set both nationally and statewide. The minimum
wage gives employers a guideline as to the legal minimum amount
paid to employees. the minimum wage served to keep 86% of workers
and their families above the poverty line for a family of four.
Today that percentage has dropped to 64%, in effect leaving 36% of
wage earners living at or below the poverty line. The current
minimum wage amounts are roughly half of what the projected living
wage is in any given area.
Living wage is defined as the estimated amount of income
necessary to live comfortably and put a family into the bracket of
middle class.