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The original sponsors of the minimum wage challenge were three Democratic politicians: Repre-
sentative Tim Ryan of Ohio, Representative Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, and Ted Strickland, the for- mer
governor of Ohio. They took the challenge the week of July 24, 2014, the fifth anniversary of the last increase in
the minimum wage. Several other politicians joined them, along with a few blog- gers, including myself.
Some of the people who took the challenge were trying to support a family on their pretend mini- mum-wage
salary, while others had only themselves. Some made it through the whole week, ot- hers went over budget, and
nearly all of them ran into problems they hadn’t expected.
Mixed Results
Most politicians who took the Live the Wage Challenge couldn’t manage to stretch their minimum-
wage budget through the whole week. Strickland’s $77 ran out on Thursday evening, the fifth day of the challenge. Schakowsky, in an account of her experience on a blog run by
the U.S. Depart- ment of Labor, says she and her husband “didn’t quite make it” through the week, though she do- esn’t say just how long they lasted. And Ryan ran short with
two days left, spending his last $4 – plus a little bit more – on a bag of trail mix right after returning to his office in Washington.
Bloggers who tried the challenge had a little more success. Christine Owens, writing for Raise the Minimum Wage, went over her limit as a result of a friend’s birthday lunch.
Joshua Mbanusi, at the anti-poverty organization MDC, extended the challenge across several weeks, succeeding on weeks one and three but going over-budget on week two.
As for me, I made it through the entire week with money to spare, though that was largely because I was lucky enough not to run into any unexpected expenses.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any stories out there from people who took the Live the Wage Challen- ge as single parents. All the participants who had kids to support also had two
incomes. Yet in reali- ty, about 1 out of 10 minimum-wage workers is a single parent, according to data from the Econo- mic Policy Institute. As the stories show, this challenge is a
struggle even for families with two wor- king parents; presumably, it would be even more difficult for single parents.
