Ralphie May Quotes

These Americans are among the working poor with full-time jobs earning $5.15 an hour. Millions fall into this boat, even more when you consider that the poverty line has not been adequately adjusted to reflect the true level of poverty in this country.

It is unacceptable that someone can work full time - and work hard - and not be able to lift themselves out of poverty.

The best antidote to poverty remains simple - a paycheck. Policies like paid family leave, workplace flexibility and affordable quality childcare can make the difference for two-parent or single-parent working families who struggle to make ends meet.

It's wrong that so many hardworking people - people working full-time, or even multiple jobs - need public assistance just to survive.

I think, in this country, if you work 40 hours a week, and you work hard, you ought to be able to afford an apartment somewhere.

America's vast population of working poor can only get so poor before even Walmart is out of reach.

Even if we raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour, it's still hard to prosper on that wage.

We need to do more to help the men and women across the country who are working hard but still struggling to make ends meet due to low wages and high healthcare costs.

How can anyone live off of minimum wage?

People can't live on $7.50 an hour.

Thirteen thousand dollars a year is not enough to raise a family. That's not enough to pay your bills and save for their future. That's barely enough to provide for even the most basic needs.

House Republican leadership have refused to allow a clean minimum wage vote. Close to 15 million Americans will be affected if we did this. Do Republicans really expect a family to live on less than $11,000 a year?

Anyone who's tried to pay a heating bill, fill a prescription, or simply buy groceries knows all too well that the current minimum wage does not cut the mustard.

No family gets rich from earning the minimum wage. In fact, the current minimum wage does not even lift a family out of poverty.

Today a minimum wage earner has to work a day and a half just to pay for a full tank of gas. That is simply shameful.

I don't know if I can live on my income or not - the government won't let me try it.

Raising the minimum wage means raising the living wage - and that's good news for Ohio.

I pay our nanny more than I'm earning.

The family wage has been eroded by the same developments that have promoted consumerism as a way of life.

Does anyone really believe it is possible to make even the most basic ends meet on $5.15 an hour?

Thousands of Ohio families are going deeper and deeper in debt just trying to pay their heating bills, fill prescriptions, and buy groceries. The current minimum wage is simply not enough.

People who go to work every day and perform the services essential to keeping our economy functioning deserve to live above the poverty level.

Today the salaries of stars are astronomical in comparison with the 20's, but the high cost of today's living and taxes takes a huge bite out of these salaries.

People who work full-time in America should not have to live in poverty - simple as that. Too many jobs don't pay enough to get by, let alone get ahead. Too many people are finding the rungs on the ladder of opportunity further and further apart.

Millions of people are falling out of the middle class into the ranks of the poor.