Rep. Ellison Statement on the Live the Wage Challenge

Statement

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) released the following statement today in solidarity with participants in the Live the Wage Challenge, which asks elected officials, advocates, and citizens to spend a week living on a minimum wage budget of $77.

"I hear the chant at every protest I attend: "We can't survive on $7.25.' But many families are forced to survive on a federal minimum wage at its lowest point in three decades. $7.25 an hour is not enough for a family to make ends meet. The situation is even worse for tipped workers, whose minimum wage is only $2.13 an hour. In the wealthiest country in the world, nobody working a full-time job should struggle to pay for basic necessities.

"The Live the Wage Challenge calls on elected officials and community leaders to stretch $77 over a week -- the same amount that millions of working Americans have to live on after taxes and housing costs every week of the year. I hope experiencing the daily struggle of making ends meet on $7.25 an hour for just a week will change the hearts of those who oppose increasing the minimum wage.

"We must raise the federal minimum wage now to ensure Americans who work full-time don't live in poverty."

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