http://www.daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=402286Consider that a box of cereal can cost nearly $4 and milk is going for about $3 per gallon or more. Utility bills -- especially electric and water -- have jumped an average of 25 percent this year, gasoline is still hovering about $3 a gallon and almost all costs related to health care continue to climb at an alarming rate.
Would a $1 per hour raise be enough to help the average worker earning minimum wage make ends meet?
On July 1, Illinois raised its minimum wage from $6.50 to $7.50 an hour. That's better than the federal minimum wage increase to $5.85 per hour that went into effect on July 24, but it's still not enough.
For individuals working 40 hours a week, that $1 increase equates to an extra $40 a week, $80 every two weeks, and $160 every month before taxes.
In other words, someone working full time at minimum wage earns about $300 per week, $1,200 per month -- before taxes. Take one-third off for taxes and that leaves $800. According to city-data.com, average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Kankakee County in 2006 was $677; that leave $123 for utilities, food, transportation, health care and miscellaneous.