Quotes About Poverty

How can anyone live off of minimum wage?

In the 1960s, a minimum wage job would keep a family of three afloat.

If you think about $7.25 an hour, that's $290 a week. It's inhumane to have that kind of wage.

We have to raise the minimum wage.

It takes so long for the folks who are earning minimum wage to finally see a little bit of a rise... that it takes a little nudge, I think, from government.

Incremental increases in the minimum wage won't address the underlying skills and investment gaps in Illinois.

By tying minimum wage to money supply, the poor's income would rise and fall with the rise and fall in money supply.

We need to see the FLSA and the minimum wage as part of a larger struggle to cut poverty and to address the challenge of income inequality.

Raising the minimum wage would be a positive step in reducing poverty, the humiliation of living in poverty, and dependence on public assistance.

I've been very outspoken that the minimum wage needs to rise.

I think that people need a livable wage.

If you do not ensure that people are being paid a living wage, then you are going to have people who rely on government assistance. It is that simple.

Unfortunately, Democrats don't want to wage a war on poverty or improve program integrity; they prefer talking points.

I want to make sure that we have a tax code that makes sure that everyone benefits, including those in poverty and those middle-income wage earners and those that have already lived the American dream as well as making sure that everyone can receive the benefits of a robust economy and not just the select few.

Too many American families go bankrupt from healthcare expenses, and low wage workers have to hold two or three jobs just to make ends meet, which leaves many young children without any hope of having a pre-K education - the most important start to a good education and a path out of poverty.

The standard of 'affordable' housing is that which costs roughly 30 percent or less of a family's income. Because of rising housing costs and stagnant wages, slightly more than half of all poor renting families in the country spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing costs, and at least one in four spends more than 70 percent.

My own experience in the third world was that even if people started to make more money, the cost of living and housing increased often faster than the wages.

The higher the unemployment rate, the more leverage I have to 'encourage' you to 'do what it takes' to keep your job. And so you work even more hours, pushing unemployment up and wages down. And that, my friends, is one of the little tricks that keeps you poor and me rich.

My mum raised three kids on her own on sweatshop wages of about six bucks an hour so there was a lot of late rent and landlords knocking on the door.

The issue isn't just jobs. Even slaves had jobs. The issue is wages.

Many unhoused people work full time but earn starvation, unlivable wages. Some struggle to access mental health services or substance use treatment, making earning a consistent and stable wage nearly impossible.

Everybody is entitled to solid living wages, which we don't hear from Hillary Clinton. She's quick to talk about parity, but parity at poverty, and that's not adequate.

Decent wages keep people out of homeless shelters. Decent wages allow families to afford books and, I don't know, school fees and things like that.

The best way to lift people out of poverty and boost wages is to grow our GDP faster. While Trump is open to raising the minimum wage, the best approach is to grow faster.