"What is a Living Wage?"

JON GERTNER in New York Times:

"[Kern] and her colleagues at Acorn witnessed an energetic grass-roots campaign in Baltimore, led by a coalition of church groups and labor unions. Workers in some of Baltimore's homeless shelters and soup kitchens had noticed something new and troubling about many of the visitors coming in for meals and shelter: they happened to have full-time jobs. In response, local religious leaders successfully persuaded the City Council to raise the base pay for city contract workers to $6.10 an hour from $4.25, the federal minimum at the time. The Baltimore campaign was ostensibly about money. But to those who thought about it more deeply, it was about the force of particular moral propositions: first, that work should be rewarded, and second, that no one who works full time should have to live in poverty." (more)

Poll results (10:09 am)

Should the minimum wage be raised, and if so, by how much?
No, it should not be raised from $5.15/hr.:
46%
Yes, to $6.25/hr.:
3%
Yes, to $7.50/hr.:
10%
Yes, to $9.50/hr.:
14%
Yes, to an amount above $10/hr.:
28%
This informal survey and its results are not scientific and reflect the opinions of only those who have chosen to participate.