In 2025, the federal minimum wage is officially a “poverty wage.” The annual earnings of a single adult working full-time, year-round at $7.25 an hour now fall below the poverty threshold of $15,650 (established by the Department of Health and Human Services guidelines). The limitations of how the federal government calculates poverty understate how far the minimum wage is from economic security for workers and their families.
Where does that threshold come from though? Like is it adjusted accordingly with inflation or is it just a made up number from 1993?
Because seeing the effects of the tariffs this number should’ve doubled in the past months.