“The question is, can you live on a minimum wage? And the answer is basically, no.”

Or, the answer is yes, as it must be since people do it. Many people do it.

I went and looked at Dr. Glasmeier living wage estimating tool. It seems that at least in my area the tool estimates the living wage as twice the poverty level. I don’t think it should be called a living wage, it is more like a living with dignity wage. At the level the Dr. indicates you can afford your own place to live and have your own transportation etc. The Dr.’s cost of living numbers are generous they are not bare bones or bottom of the barrel.

That said for a employer to claim that they are paying a living wage here they would need to pay $9.76 an hour, that is the lowest living wage in the table for my area. Two working adults sharing expenses making an average of $9.76 an hour could afford the living with dignity lifestyle. In contrast that table indicates that a single adult with just one child would need to make $24.40 an hour to afford the living with dignity lifestyle. It is clear that employers can’t be expected to pay everyone that “Living Wage.”

So how do people live on minimum wage? They work more hours. They share expenses. They do without. They get help from the government. They struggle. They get help with transportation or food or in other ways. Two adults sharing expenses making minimum wage here each working only 40 hours a week make 1.8 times the Dr.’s table’s poverty wage. They would be well above the poverty level and at 0.75 of the living wage level. Not too shabby. Work a little overtime or make some money from a side gig and you are there living with dignity not poverty. Yes, it would be precarious.

If we set UBI at the Dr.’s living wage level for a single parent in my area the UBI would be $4,200 a month. Nobody is even considering UBI at that kind of level.

TEK