In modern-day, the golden image of “the American Dream” has become a pleasure only achieved by a select few, coming at the expense of thousands of underpaid and underappreciated individuals. The actions of the United States federal government have sealed this fate into reality.

In 2009, George W. Bush raised the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. Since then, thirteen years have passed and the United States has remained stuck at the rate that it was raised three presidents ago. When President Harry S. Truman nearly doubled the minimum wage in 1949, he reminded citizens, “the Government must adapt its plans and policies to meet changing circumstances” (Truman). An economically developed nation facing severely high inflation rates with no increase in the minimum wage is pure absurdity.

In recent years, twenty-seven states, along with numerous counties and cities have raised the local minimum to a more reasonable amount, some being as high as 15 dollars an hour, like in the state of California. More than half of the country sees a need for an increase. It is time for the federal government to react to the needs of its citizens.

Regardless of the minimum wage, some employers have managed to pay workers below minimum wage. This often happens to workers in tip-supplemented positions since they have two parts of their paycheck. Employers sometimes ‘miscalculate’ the totals, leaving workers with wages below the legal minimum. In 2020, over 850,000 hourly workers were paid wages below the federal minimum wage (“Minimum Wage Is Not Enough.”). If we do not raise the minimum wage and hold businesses accountable, workers will continue to be taken advantage of, leading to the downfall of hourly workers.

The current cost of living in the United States makes the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour unlivable. To be considered affordable, housing must take up 30% or less of a worker's income (Romo). The rest of their wage should go to other basic human necessities. 

Almost half of the minimum wage workers in the United States are over the age of 35. They are working these jobs to make their living. According to a report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, at $7.25 an hour, it would take 172 work hours a week to “cover the rent on a ‘modest’ one bedroom”, estimated at $1,615 per month (Romo). Seeing as there are 168 hours in each week, this is not only ethically wrong, but it is physically impossible.

At $14 an hour, this same home could be affordable if someone were to work 89 hours a week. Although this is a bit more possible than the latter, it would require the worker to be on the job twelve to thirteen hours a day, seven days a week. Although this is physically possible, it is inhumane for someone to be asked to work so much just for a place to live in. This would mean the sacrifice of family, sanity, and happiness all for the sake of having one’s basic human needs met.

If the federal minimum wage is doubled, living on that wage may be feasible, but single father, Luis, from Philadelphia has seen a minimum wage increase in his city. However, working three minimum wage jobs, Luis says “even now $15 an hour isn’t enough” . Raising the minimum wage to a livable number would make it easier for Luis and his children to survive, however in Pennsylvania the minimum livable wage is 24 dollars an hour, 9 dollars more than what he is making at his three jobs. Across the US this number varies from 20 to 26 dollars based on location (“Minimum Wage Is Not Enough.”).

Some may argue that businesses are paying workers at the wages that they can afford to stay above water. However, over the span of thirty years, CEO compensation for major companies like Walmart and Mcdonald’s grew by 1,322 percent. Over the same span of time, the average worker’s wage increased by only 18 percent (“Minimum Wage Is Not Enough.”). Investors and executives of these companies are making tremendous profits while those working to make their fortunes are struggling to stay alive.

These workers must turn to the government for help to supplement their minuscule wages. Programs like food stamps and Medicaid use taxpayer dollars to make up for the reality of minimum wage. It is unlivable. These programs, although helpful to the workers, allow large companies to capitalize on their ability to underpay their workers.

Raising the minimum wage is imperative to fixing the broken economy of the US, where investors of large companies flourish by taking advantage of government funds and underpaid workers. Working 40 hours a week should sustain a minimal lifestyle, but in the United States, for many, it does not. Minimum wage workers are no longer working to achieve the “American Dream”. They are barely scraping by while earning just $7.25 an hour, a wage incapable of supporting an American life.