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This challenge was created as part of a campaign to raise the federal minimum wage, which hasn’t

increased since 2009. The campaign encouraged politicians, bloggers, and others to try living for

one week on minimum wage and write about it. The organizers set up a discussion on Twitter

at #LiveTheWage for people to share their experiences. Their goal was to show people firsthand

how difficult it is to live on $7.25 an hour and encourage them to support the wage hike.

All those who took the challenge say they learned from the experience. Mostly, they say, it helped

them understand how difficult it is to get by on minimum wage. But also, they learned to distinguish

between wants and needs – to recognize which of their expenses were truly necessary, and which

were extras they could cut if they had to. Ultimately, they came away from the experience more gra-

teful for the little luxuries they once took for granted.

Rules of the Challenge

The official website for the challenge, which has now been taken down, outlined both the purpose

of the challenge and the rules for taking it. In a nutshell, you get $77 per week for each adult in

your household to pay for everything except your housing expenses.

Here’s how the website explained that figure:

Weekly Income. The challenge gives you a weekly budget of $290 ba-
sed on 40 hours of work at $7.25 per hour. The Live the Wage website
didn’t explain what to do if you come from a two-income household, but
most couples who took the challenge simply multiplied this number by
two, pretending that they both earned minimum wage.

Taxes. From your $290 salary, take out $35.06 for taxes. The website
said this was the average amount that minimum-wage workers pay in
tax each week, including federal and state income taxes and the Social
Security payroll tax.