A 15 dollar-an-hour minimum wage, which would be a dream for many people struggling to live right now, would still be a significantly lower rate of pay in real terms (factoring in inflation) than the minimum wage when I was a student.

People who claim the minimum wage is high enough already have no idea what they’re talking about.

What’s really tragic is that people making 9 or 10 dollars an hour are counted as fully employed in government statistics, even though they can’t pay rent and buy food with their paycheck.

Our system is broken. A living wage used to be a routine expectation of employment. If people working full time at Walmart or McDonald’s qualify for food stamps and other assistance, society itself is broken.

We need to pay enough for goods and services to pay a living wage to the people providing them.