HERE is an excellent article that does a very good job dismissing many faulty beliefs about people who work for minimum wage. In particular, the column addresses the question "should we raise the minimum wage so that minimum wage earners do not live in poverty?"
The answer? No.
Why?
Because the vast majority of minimum wage jobs are not the sole income for a household, or even the sole income for that single person. Think of all the teenagers who work their first job or adults who work an extra job for minimum wage. Further, even for those single parents who earn minimum wage, about 75% of them move out of single-parenthood status within 6 years.
So, no, the great majority of minimum wage earners do not live in households at or below the poverty line.
But even if they did, remember that being poor in the United States means you have about as much disposable income as a family earning $60,000.
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