From Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger:
It is just a sad fact that millions of workers in the United States make at or near the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour (about $15,080 a year). That’s barely enough to keep a single person above the poverty line, and for those with a family (two or more people) it is a poverty wage. Republicans will tell you that the minimum wage workers are just teenagers living with their parents (who don’t need a livable wage), but that is a lie. The overwhelming majority of minimum wage workers are adults — and many are single parents supporting children.
These are not lazy people. They work hard in a full-time job — and they deserve a livable wage. No one willing to work hard should have to live in poverty. And by 2020, it is estimated that about a quarter of the American workforce will be working at or very near the minimum wage.