When the Blues Hit Home: Why Family Values Require Family Wages

October 26, 2025

The author argues that addressing America's family breakdown crisis requires raising the minimum wage to create family-sustaining incomes, as poverty wages prevent workers from building stable households and relationships. Currently, the federal minimum wage of $7. 25 per hour falls drastically short of what families need to afford basic necessities, with MIT calculations showing even the cheapest areas require over $33 per hour for modest two-parent households.

Who is affected

Low-wage workers earning near minimum wage (specifically mentioned: Geoffrey McAdam earning under $47,000 annually in Indiana, Anneliese Jackson earning $9/hour in Elgin after eight years, Luisa Powell earning $2.13/hour in Kentucky restaurants)
Single mothers working multiple shifts and missing their children's childhoods
Children in low-wage households experiencing health, educational, and emotional impacts
Working-class families across the political spectrum struggling with high costs for groceries, rent, and childcare
Taxpayers subsidizing corporate payrolls through $65 billion annually in government assistance programs
Small businesses that would need to adjust to higher wage requirements

What action is being taken

The Living Wage for All coalition is proposing a family-sustaining wage of $25-$30 per hour to be phased in over several years, with large corporations reaching the target faster and additional time for small businesses, including training, technical assistance, grants, loans, and tax credits to help businesses transition, and ending all subminimum wages including the $2.13 tipped worker wage.

Why it matters

This matters because the current wage system is contributing to family breakdown, declining marriage rates, and rising single parenthood that conservatives have warned about for decades, while the financial reality is that workers cannot build stable families on poverty wages. The gap between what families need to survive (over $33 per hour even in the cheapest counties) and the $7.25 federal minimum wage creates a crisis where parents work multiple jobs yet cannot afford housing, childcare, or basic necessities, leading to family instability, absent parents, and child welfare issues. The bipartisan appetite for higher wages—demonstrated by the viral popularity of false claims about $25 minimum wage even among MAGA voters—reveals this is a family crisis rather than a partisan issue, and if the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation and productivity since 1968, it would already be $25 today.

What's next

The Living Wage for All coalition's proposal includes a phased implementation timeline giving businesses time to adjust, with large corporations reaching $25-$30 faster and additional time for small businesses, supported by training, technical assistance, and financial support including grants, loans, and tax credits. The article notes that polling shows 55% of voters in swing congressional districts support $25 minimum wage (70% in Chicago support $30), suggesting potential political viability, though the author frames the ultimate next step as whether political leaders will listen to this bipartisan voter demand.

Read full article from source: Michigan Chronicle