No - that's what is called a 'living wage' or sometimes 'family wage' to be clear that it should support a family and not just the worker. The minimum wage is i

No - that's what is called a 'living wage' or sometimes 'family wage' to be clear that it should support a family and not just the worker. The minimum wage is in some places intended to meet that definition, but I don't know if the USA intended that when they created theirs, and because the federal minimum wage is only raised haphazardly instead of by indexing to living costs, it doesn't now meet it if it ever did (some states do index their minimum wage). I've heard people argue that minimum wage jobs are intended for teenagers who don't need to support anyone, for instance. The poverty threshold, on the other hand, is based on actual costs - apparently it is "three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963, updated annually for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, and adjusted for family size, composition, and age of householder." [http://www.irp.wisc.edu/faqs/faq2.htm http://www.irp.wisc.edu/faqs/faq2.htm]