I wanted to show the financial struggle of the working poor of America and how raising the Federal minimum wage could help millions of Americans.

2. CURRENTLY PEOPLE WHO EARN THE MINIMUM WAGE ARE NOT ABLE TO AFFORD HOUSING, THUS MAKING “THE AMERICAN DREAM”
PRACTICALLY DEAD FOR MANY PEOPLE, ACCORDING TO A 2015 REPORT FROM THE NATIONAL LOW HOUSING INCOME. [8]

3. ACCORDING TO A 2014
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET
OFFICE REPORT, INCREASING
THE MINIMUM WAGE TO
$9.00/HR FROM THE CURRENT
$7.25/HR, WOULD GET
ROUGHLY 300,000 OUT OF
POVERTY

4. INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE WOULD
RAISE THE WAGES OF PEOPLE CURRENTLY
MAKE SLIGHTLY MORE THAN THE CURRENT
$7.25/HR
RESEARCHES AT THE WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL
OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS (CEA) FOUND THAT
AN INCREASE IN THE MINIMUM WAGE TO
$10.10/HR WOULD RAISE WAGES FOR
ROUGHLY 28 MILLION AMERICAN DUE TO THE
RIPPLE EFFECT ALONE[6][7]

5. IF WE RAISED IT TO $10.10/HR 900,000 PEOPLE WOULD BE OUT OF
POVERTY, THAT’S THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA. [2] [3]

6. HIGHER MINIMUM WAGES WOULD REDUCE GOVERNMENT WELFARE SPENDING
THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS REPORTED
IN 2014 IF THE MINIMUM WAGE WAS RAISED TO
$10.10/HR THE SNAP PROGRAM WOULD BE ABLE
TO REDUCE SPENDING BY $4.6 BILLION DOLLARS.

7. WITH THAT KIND OF FEDERAL SAVINGS THE GOVERNMENT COULD USE THAT MONEY TOWARDS EDUCATION OR
HEALTHCARE.[4] [5]

8. THE INVISIBLE WORKING CLASS:
INCREASING THE MINIMUM WAGE
WOULD REDUCE INCOME EQUALITY
WHICH WOULD ALLOW SOME 48 MILLION
AMERICANS RISE OUT OF POVERTY,
ACCORDING A 2014 REPORT FROM CNN
MONEY. [9][10]

9. WHEN WORKERS RECEIVE A
HIGHER WAGE OF PAY THEY ARE
MORE PRODUCTIVE, THERE IS LESS
ABSENTEEISM AND PEOPLE ARE
LESS LIKELY TO LOOK FOR ANOTHER
JOB THAT PAYS MORE.

10. WORKS CITED
1. US CENSUS BUREAU, "POVERTY THRESHOLDS BY SIZE OF FAMILY AND NUMBER OF CHILDREN," CENSUS.GOV
2. WIKIPEDIA, “LIST OF U.S. STATES AND TERRITORIES BY POPULATION”, EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG
3. ALTDAILY.COM “NO MINIMUM WAGE RAISE FOR YOU, VIRGINIA”, CAPITAL NEW SERVICE, JANUARY 20,2015
4. AMY LIVINSTON, MONEYCRASHERS.COM, “HOW TO GET EBT FOOD STAMPS-SNAP PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY & APPLICATION”
5. DAVID COOPER, "RAISING THE FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE TO $10.10 WOULD SAVE SAFETY NET PROGRAMS BILLIONS AND HELP ENSURE BUSINESSES ARE DOING THEIR
FAIR SHARE," ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE WEBSITE, OCT. 16, 2014
6. COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS, "THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE," WHITEHOUSE.GOV, FEB. 12, 2014
7. COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS, "THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE," WHITEHOUSE.GOV, FEB. 12, 2014
8. ANA SWANSON, "WHAT YOU'D NEED TO EARN IN EVERY STATE TO RENT A DECENT APARTMENT," WASHINGTON POST, JUNE 9, 2015
9. PATRICK GILLESPIE, “OVER 48 MILLION AMERICANS LIVE IN POVERTY”, CNN MONEY, OCTOBER, 16,2014
10. DAILY MAIL REPORTER, “MAKING THE INVISIBLE, VISIBLE: HAUNTING PICTURES OF AMERICA’S MOST VULNERABLE PEOPLE SHOT BY PHOTOJOURNALISTS AGAINST
POVERTY”, DAILYMAIL.COM, MARCH 21, 2012

11. GOALS AND CHOICES
FOR THIS I WANTED TO TRY A DIFFERENT WAY OF PRESENTING MY INFORMATION TO MY AUDIENCE, RATHER THAN JUST A
TRADITIONALLY TYPED TWO PAGE PAPER. I DECIDED THAT I WANTED TO TRY AND HAVE MORE VISUALS TO SHOW MY INFORMATION TO
MAKE IT MORE PERSONAL FOR MY AUDIENCE SO THEY COULD CONNECT WITH IT ON A MORE PERSONAL LEVEL. BY PUTTING A FACE TO
THIS ISSUE IT HUMANIZES THE PROBLEM, AS A RESULT THE AUDIENCE IS MORE LIKELY TO CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE TELLING THEM.
I WANTED MY AUDIENCE TO CARE ABOUT HAVING THE MINIMUM WAGE BE RAISED, FOR THE WORKING POOR IN AMERICA NOT
MAKING ENOUGH MONEY TO SURVIVE IS A VERY REAL HARDSHIP FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. BECAUSE OF THIS THE CYCLE OF POVERTY
IN AMERICA WILL CONTINUE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME UNLESS WE AS A COUNTRY DECIDE TO MAKE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES NOW.