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According to BLS statistics (warning: pdf), about 1.1 million people are being paid at or below the federal minimum wage. 

In 2021, 76.1 million workers age 16 and older in the United States were paid at hourly rates, representing 55.8 percent of all wage and salary workers. Among those paid by the hour, 181,000 workers earned exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About 910,000 workers had wages below the federal minimum.
It's more that we need to embrace change beyond paychecks. The right to life, liberty, and happiness must mean the right to food, shelter, education, health care at a minimum. Paycheck adjustments should be the determining factor between a US based vacation vs a European vacation, not whether someone gets to sleep in their car or under a bridge. >

This person empathizes. >

My life has been a roller-coaster. I get it. I definitely get it. >

Cue the cries of FIRST THEY WANTED 15 NOW IT'S 25. WHY NOT GIVE THEM A BILLION DOLLARS AN HOUR. malarkey the reps love to spill. >

He is correct.  $$15 an hour won't work either. 


$15/hr full time = 31000/year


$26,000 after taxes


Rent is $18,000 ($1500/mo)


Food is $3600 ($300/mo)


Electricity + Phone + Internet is $3000 ($250/month)


Congratulations, you are out of money.


Clothes? Gas? Car Payment? Maintenance? Insurance? Entertainment/Leisure? Unexpected expenses?
Oh...don't forget that you have no health insurance and are one accident/medical emergency away from total financial collapse.
u/PorkTornado >

I live in the Bay Area where $15 an hour is minimum wage. $1500 a month wouldn’t even get you your own shitty studio unless you were extremely lucky.
Our combined water and gas/electricity bill for an 800 sqft, 1 bath apartment with two occupants is already nearly $200 a month… And that’s only because we never turn the heater on and work to conserve water… we were actually praised by the water service for being in the top 20% of water conserving households.
Our fiber internet should be $39, but with all the random fees and taxes the county adds on it’s more like $55, and my phone bill isn’t even included in that… And the Internet will get more expensive next year because we had a sign on discount, probably to around $60-70.
All this to say, I am fortunate in that I make a decent wage, but it is rough out here and $15 an hour absolutely isn’t enough. >

I live in a tourist area, and our McDonalds already pays $17 to start. >

I do wonder how many people are actually making minimum wage now. It’s so far below market, and most states have higher minimums, so it’s almost completely irrelevant.