, Columnists
Biden Should Target a Living Wage, Not a Minimum One
Tens of millions of people work full time yet can’t afford the basic necessities.
Not nearly enough.
Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty Images
President Joe Biden’s plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour has kicked up the usual arguments about whether Congress should support higher wages and where it should set the bar. But the debate often obscures the specific problem it’s meant to address: Tens of millions of Americans work full time yet can’t afford food, housing, transportation, health care and other necessities — a situation as intolerable as it is socially and economically unsustainable.
What workers need is a living wage, not a minimum one.