Politicians Give Living on Minimum Wage a Whirl

Former Governor of Ohio Ted Strickland said in Sunday op-ed that he tried and failed to live on the minimum wage last week as a part of the #LiveTheWage challenge.

“Washington is in a bubble that keeps our representatives away from the experiences of those they actually represent,” Strickland wrote in Politico Magazine. “We need to understand the challenges faced by Americans who are being left behind in our economy.”

He wasn’t the only politician trying to understand the setbacks faced by low-earning workers. U.S. representatives Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) also took part in the challenge, which asks participants to live on only $77 a week — the typical amount of money an employee relying on the current $7.25 minimum wage can put toward all their expenses, not counting utilities and rent.

Ryan and Schakowsky began the challenge last Thursday, which was the fifth anniversary of the last federal minimum wage increase, ABC News reports. Both reps support raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

“So far I have lost some weight, which is not bad for me, but must be tough for low wage workers all over the country,” tweeted Schakowsky. “#LiveTheWage just gives me a glimpse into the life of a low wage worker. Point is $7.25 isn’t enough to live on.”

At an event Sunday, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn agreed to Schakowsky’s request to that he, too, live on the minimum wage, in advance of a ballot measure in Illinois on Nov. 4 to raise its minimum wage to $10 in 2015, the Associated Press reports.