Area I'm in, poverty line is $40,000/year.
Just a note, but two people could MAYBE afford a 1bed 1bath at that pay.
Well, the company I'm working for now is paying me around $42,000/year for a specialized assembly position.
I found out yesterday this is about $4000/year more than they are paying the guy training me for the same role. This workforce will very soon be retiring as almost all of them are Vietnamese immigrants in their 60's. My trainer has been there 32 years!
Making $18/hour? I'm honestly not even sure how most of them survive in this area on that rate.
Company is multinational and multi-million dollar. And they can't figure out why no one stays beyond a year anymore.