Since the beginning of mankind the biggest goal of a parent is to provide for his or her own family. Whether this be by providing all of the basic necessities needed for life or going in excess so that their family is comfortable. Now, with so much of the United States in poverty, many parents are not able to provide for their families all of the things necessary for life; or a successful life. Current minimum wage is completely unsatisfactory and does not allow parents to properly provide for their families. Inflation has risen to the point where the government needs to step in and make a change. Minimum wage is too low and with the rising cost of living and rate of inflation, the national minimum wage should be increased. Minimum wage is defined in several different ways; Gwendolyn Mink and Alice O’Connor say that “Minimum wage is the smallest hourly wage that an employee may be paid as mandated by national law” (Mink and O’Connor,468). What this means is that employers are only required to pay employees a certain amount per hour with no need to increase this wage if they deem not necessary. In Michigan, the current minimum wage is seven dollars and forty cents (U.S. Department of Labor). This minimum wage is also cut into by income taxes and in reality is much lower. When factoring in inflation as well as cost of living, this hourly wage is unsatisfactory to say the least. According to the inflation calculator on the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Database, every one dollar in 1968 is worth six dollars and sixty eight cents. Minimum wage in 1968 was ten dollars and four cents in modern dollars or one dollar and sixty four cents in 1968 (Minimum Wage History). What this means is that minimum wage, if going along according to inflation, has actually dropped by almost three dollars in forty four years. A change needs to be made. In a study done by Oregon State University, minimum wage has fluctuated between ninety percent of the poverty level in 1968 to the lowest point in 2006 where it reached fifty percent of the poverty level (Minimum Wage History). What this means is that with minimum wage people are still falling below the poverty line and cannot provide for their families. The poverty threshold for a family of four is around twenty two thousand dollars, for a one or two person family the threshold is around eleven thousand dollars (Institute for Research on Poverty). These incomes are shown but do not include the cost of living which includes food, water, transportation, and housing to name a few. In a study done by the University of Michigan, they studied the average annual and monthly costs of living. These costs included housing, healthcare, personal needs, child care, and transportation. A two bedroom apartment in Ann Arbor, Michigan including renters insurance would cost about one thousand to eleven hundred dollars per month (Cost of Living). These costs annually accumulate to be almost more than what the average minimum wage recipient in Michigan receives per year, not including income taxes. The average person making seven dollars and forty cents per hour, working the standard forty hour work week would make around fifteen thousand dollars. Minimum wage