A Decade at $5.15 an Hour

By Timmy Watson in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 22, 2006 9:19PM

We know we had/have issues balancing our personal budget, so we can’t imagine what it would be like earning the federal minimum wage of $5.15/hour. To help us imagine, the 7 Days @ Minimum Wage Video Blog will start on Monday, October 23.

The video blog will present a new person each day with their story of living on minimum wage. The project, created by ACORN and the AFL-CIO, is hosted by Roseanne Barr, and Chicago Carless blogger Mike Doyle did media work and found/interviewed some of the profiled workers in the project.

Twenty-three states currently have their minimum wage set above the federal minimum, which has been set at $5.15 since 1997. The purpose of the project is to show how the minimum wage impacts those that are living off it and to allow a forum for discussion over the workers featured, as well as to encourage viewers to discuss their own story. There are also quite a few minimum wage initiatives on ballots in states throughout the country that will be cast on November 7.