The conversation about minimum wage is important, with many fact-checkers, economists, and studies supporting the idea of raising it to help lift people out of poverty and reduce reliance on public assistance. While progress is being made, there is still much work to do. A key question is how everyday workers manage to live on such low wages.
For example, a McDonald’s employee earned $13,811.18 in one year, according to the YouTube channel Just Frugal Me, which analyzed a widely shared paycheck. The channel noted that there is nothing wrong with working at McDonald’s, where over 2 million people in the U.S. are employed. The paycheck showed the worker logged 72 hours in a pay period, earning $8.75 an hour, which amounted to $631 before taxes for the week. Just Frugal Me highlighted that the costs for basic needs often exceed what this worker earns, even while working long hours. Additionally, this worker earned too much to qualify for Medicaid, meaning they had to buy their own health insurance.
In states like California, where the minimum wage is $20 per hour, workers earn nearly three times the federal minimum wage, which has not changed since 2009. Even in California, a full-time worker earning this minimum would make just over $41,000 annually, which is significantly lower than the median income in the state of about $78,000, and far from what is needed to live in cities like Los Angeles.
The federal minimum wage remains at $7.25, unchanged since 2009. In April 2025, the Raise the Wage Act of 2025 was introduced in Congress. This proposed law aims to raise the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour by 2030 and eliminate lower wage rates for tipped workers and individuals with disabilities. If passed, it could benefit over 22 million workers, which is about 15% of the U.S. workforce, and potentially add $70 billion to the earnings of low-wage workers.
Congressman Bobby Scott from Virginia has stated that no full-time worker in America should live in poverty and emphasized that raising the minimum wage would improve living standards for many workers. He believes that increasing wages is beneficial for workers, businesses, and the economy, as it allows workers to spend more in their communities.
This narrative was originally shared ten years ago and has been updated to reflect new information.
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Source: Upworthy, by Brandon Weber