The Minimum Wage It is not Enough to Cover Basic Needs

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The government sets minimum wage at what they think an average person needs to live a healthy life, but is minimum wage isn't really enough to support a person. Minimum wage does not change with inflation, and prices have gone up since the last time minimum wage was changed on July 5, 2009. People get paid minimum wage, which is what the government says should be enough to cover the costs of living for a person, but for those living on minimum wage, hunger and malnutrition are a big problem, even with government and public assistance like SNAP (The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) and housing assistance programs.
People still struggle to cover payments on their cars, homes, and utilities. The Covenant Food Kitchen in Willimantic, Connecticut served about 23,385 meals last year to a total of about 92 individuals, but nutritional assistance programs will only go so far, and even getting to places that offer assistance is a struggle for some. SNAP can reduce food insecurity in a household by about five to ten percent in six months, but that five to ten percent does not make that much of a difference in the long run.
Minimum wage was set in 2009 to pay for a person’s living expenses, and $7.25 an hour might have been enough then, but a recent study by Jessica Janner of Channel 13 Action News says that,
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a minimum wage worker in Nevada would need to work 93 hours each week just to make rent on the average two-bedroom apartment. That may sound bad, but that is nowhere near the worst. That dubious distinction goes to Maryland. Minimum wage employees there need to work 138 hours every week just to pay rent. Washington, D.C., is not far behind. Minimum wage workers ...

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... a person to live a healthy life, getting all the nutrients, healthcare, and education they need, but minimum wage just doesn’t stretch quite that far.

People get paid minimum wage, which is what the government says should be enough to cover the costs of living for a person, but for those living on minimum wage, hunger and malnutrition are a big problem, even with government and public assistance like SNAP (The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) and housing assistance programs. Overall, government assistance programs do help keep people out of food insecurity, but they can only do so much. The government sets minimum wage at what they think an average person needs to live a healthy life, but is minimum wage isn't really enough to support a person. Minimum wage hasn’t been changed since 2009, and has become irrelevant to the times because of inflation.

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