Well, keep on everyone in this sub with an important idea. In the meanwhile... do please consider Voting for wages.

I've been practicing a little bit and asking economists to explain stuff for me. The missing component in the US is economic participation. That's no news in this sub. We already have a version of basic income (EITC) but it's pretty weak. The case for wages is much more clear and lots more possible socially and politically because Americans simply prefer work. Basic Income is really an answer to the question: Why do I have no money to exist?

Here is a comparison with two economies. One has a strong minimum wage and one does not.

We'll title this the "1980-2015 Minimum Wage showdown. Round one Australia versus the US."

In 1980, Australia and the US had some strikingly similar numbers. Australia has a strong minimum wage law that locked in to the cost of living in 1980. The comparison is surprising.

• July 1980 Australia min wage = 3.37 per hour
• July 1980 US min wage = 3.35 per hour
• The exchange rate was about .86 favoring AUS
• Median Net worth from 1980 is tough to find a source, but Home Prices in both countries are a big portion of net worth and they were also close to identical (AUS $68K page 8). (US $64K page 5)

and then the results...

• 2015 Aus min wage = $16.88 and skilled labor gets almost $30.
• 2015 US min wage = $7.25 and skilled labor gets about $18.
• The exchange rate is .78 favoring AUS
• Australian Net Worth: $450K and US median Net worth is $40K
• Aus Average home prices are about $350,000 while the US average home is only $200,000

It is not only wage earners that are getting a bad result in the US economy. The owners of ordinary assets like businesses and homes suffer, too. The US has Suppressed Demand in the economy because the wages are too low for too many.

Conservatives fight rather viciously against raising the minimum wage. The reason that they fight is because they know that raising the minimum wage would also help you, OP.

Here's a quote: "As a result of wage compression or inequity, all too often, companies are forced to address the problem by adjusting their entire compensation systems–usually upward and across-the-board." (source)