All these years, I was under the impression that the federal minimum wage was the absolute minimum people could be paid. Now, I find out that this is not so. Some states have no minimum wage, and other states are below the federal minimum.
I am also shocked and amazed to realize that, with the exception of the city of San Francisco, I have lived in the two places with the highest minimum wage in the country (Oregon and Washington).
I find this sad, as my $7.25 an hour in Oregon seemed piddly, and there was no real way I could have kept up my standard of living if the motel had been my only job.
I'm trying to decide what is skewed: the standard of living and high cost of housing, or the low minimum wage.