[{OF}MadD!]

At present minimum wage is below the poverty level.

http://csmonitor.com/2005/0603/p01s04-usec.html

"We see it as the government arbitrarily determining a wage issue, and we believe that is better left to market forces," says Marc Freedman, director of labor-law policy at the US Chamber of Commerce. "What we see is that it's routinely used as an introductory or training wage. People who start don't stay there long. They're quickly promoted."

But advocates for low-income workers, particularly immigrants, say that's not always the case and many families are dependent on minimum-wage jobs for their income. Currently, 30 million Americans are in low-wage jobs that pay less than the poverty rate for a family of four.