in our neck of the woods,

$10 seems to be about the de facto minimum wage. I asked a woman at McDonald's at the drive thru window and they

start at $9, not sure what Walmart pays around here. About the cheapest apartments available are $1000 per month,

most go for $1200 or more. So, let's say you are making $10, that equals $1600 a month - $1100 for rent - Fed

taxes, Soc Sec taxes, leaves one about $250 a month for gas - what does one eat???

I've read that if the

minimum wage were fair, it would need to be about $16 an hour for unskilled labor. Sounds about right to me.