How is the Minimum Wage Different from a Living Wage?
The federal minimum wage is the minimum amount that a worker can be paid an hour (currently in 2010, $7.25 an hour) and applies to almost all workers. States may also set a minimum wage that is higher than the federal minimum (California in 2010, $8.00 an hour). Some municipalities such as San Francisco and Santa Fe, New Mexico, have implemented citywide minimum wages that are higher than both the federal and state minimum wage (San Francisco in 2009, $9.79 an hour). Living wages commonly refer to wages set by local ordinances that cover a specific set of workers, usually government workers or workers hired by businesses that have received a government contract or subsidy. A “living wage” is a self-sufficiency wage which enables a family to pay for housing, medical care, transportation, child care, and food without relying on public or private assistance. The term “living wage” is used by advocates to point out that the federal and state minimum wage are not adequate to enable workers
