Minimum Wage Benefits

For many Americans, the minimum wage is not a living wage, and yet they are expected to live on it. When minimum wage was first introduced, it was a living wage. As time has gone on, inflation has caused prices to raise and yet minimum wage hasn’t gone up. People in the past could work blue-collar jobs and pay their way through college and buy a house right after they graduate. This assignment was to budget for a family that is living on minimum wage and it was challenging. The family that I was assigned lives in Houston, TX, has 2 young children, no car, and only makes $15,000 a year. That is only $1,250 a month. Spending $800 or over on an apartment was out of the question, but finding a 2-bedroom apartment under that amount was difficult.

On paper, the numbers all add up and fit together to make a good budget plan, but some months you don’t make as much money or you have an emergency that requires all the paycheck. These jobs also don’t pay once a month at the beginning and people tend to live paycheck by paycheck. A lot of low-income families also develop bad habits, such as smoking, and they spend more money on that. It is easier said than done when putting together a budget plan for a low-income family. I don’t think that minimum wage is a living wage. This project was challenging, but most of my family don’t make a lot of money. My sister has 2 children under 5 and makes around $15,000 a year. Her children’s daycare is payed for by the government and she uses WIC and SNAP. Growing up, my parents didn’t have a lot of money because they had 5 children. My mother took us to free events at the science museum, parks, and libraries. At the same time, I’ve always lived with my parents and so finding an apartment and putting together a budget plan was nothing I’ve ever done. This assignment taught me a lot about living on a minimum wage and trying to stretch that money as far as it will