$15 an hour isn’t enough: U.S. workers need to earn a living wage

As cost increases persist and workers try to keep up, buzzwords like “poverty wage,” “minimum wage” and “living wage” are coming back into the lexicon, shaping conversations about what it means to make enough and who decides where to draw the line.

The federal minimum wage, which was last raised in 2009, stands at $7.25 an hour.

A full-time employee, working an average of 40 hours per week on minimum wage, makes $15,000 annually (which puts these workers below the pove...

$15 an hour isn’t enough: U.S. workers need to earn a living wage

As cost increases persist and workers try to keep up, buzzwords like “poverty wage,” “minimum wage” and “living wage” are coming back into the lexicon, shaping conversations about what it means to make enough and who decides where to draw the line.

The federal minimum wage, which was last raised in 2009, stands at $7.25 an hour.

A full-time employee, working an average of 40 hours per week on minimum wage, makes $15,000 annually (which puts these workers below the pove...