1. Living Wage Changing our Standard of Living By: Audelia Solorio and Devin Griffin

2. ●The first minimum wage in the US proposed in 1912 in Massachusetts o The idea spread to several states throughout the next decade ●National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) establishes first national minimum wage, is brought to court and declared unconstitutional History

3. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ●Reestablishes the national minimum wage o $0.25 an hour, about $4 adjusted to inflation o Upheld by United States v. Darby Lumber Co. ●Establishes standard 40 hour work week ●Includes child labor laws ●A part of New Deal legislation

4. ●National minimum wage starts about $4/hour o Highest minimum wage (adjusted) is 30 years later, about $11/hour o Currently $7.25/hour ●Significant wage inequalities exist in the US o The top 1% experiences higher average increases in income than lower wage earners o There is also a pronounced gender wage gap Wages in the Workforce

6. Minimum Wage ●Federal Minimum Wage is currently $7.25 an hour ●The value of the federal minimum wage has fallen 30% ●Despite 2007-2009 economic increases, the minimum wage remains too low to sustain working families o Working poor exceed 47 million due to  steep erosion  economic decline

7. Living Wage ●A wage rate required to meet minimum standards of living An approximate income needed to meet a family’s basic needs ●Enabling the working poor to achieve: o financial independence o maintaining housing and food security

8. Seattle ●In June 2014, Seattle voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour from the $7.25 federal minimum ●Large employers of 500 employees or more will be paying their employees the new $15 minimum by 2017 ●Small businesses of 500 employees or less enacting the new $15 minimum by 2021

10. Working on Progress ●Progress is the advancement towards growth and development ●Rhetoric of the conversation is that of positivity and improvement ●Raising the standard of living will make the lives of the masses more desirable, lifting thousands out of poverty ●If we consider the cost of living, the minimum wage does not support an individual much less a family

11. Then and Now ●Then: A federal minimum wage in 1968 could have lifted a family of three above the poverty line ●Now: A federal minimum wage in 2013 cannot support a parent with one child o working full-time o 40 hours a week o 52 weeks a year o assuming there is no time off

12. State of Living in 2014 ●The minimum wage does not provide a living wage for the average American family o the living wage exceeds the poverty threshold ●the living wage varies based on the cost of living and taxes where families reside ●The cost of housing and childcare for families with children exceeds all other expenses

14. Works Cited ●Badger, Emily. “Minimum Wage Was Once Enough To Keep a Family of 3 Out of Poverty.” The Atlantic CITYLAB. (2013). Web. 26 Oct. 2014. ●City of Seattle. Office of the Mayor. 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014 ●Economic Policy Institute. Research and Ideas for Shared Prosperity: Minimum Wage. EPI, 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. ●Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Living Wage Calculator. MIT, 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. ●National Employment Law Project. Living Wage and Minimum Wage. NELP, 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. ●Peralta, Katherine. “Minimum Wage Capturing Political Center Stage.” U.S. News & World Report. (2014). Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

15. Works Cited ●“Raising the Minimum Wage to $10.10 Would Benefit 4.7 Million Moms.” Economic Policy Institute. 2014. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. ●The Women’s Foundation of California. Bridge to Living Wage. WFCA, 2012-2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. ●United States Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage. DOL, 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. ●U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 2015 Fair Market Rent Documentation System. FMR, 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.