> "the underlying assumption ... seems to be that minimum wage should get you a 2BR apartment" or, phrased another way, the underlying assumption is that if yo

> "the underlying assumption ... seems to be that minimum wage should get you a 2BR apartment" or, phrased another way, the underlying assumption is that if your labor isn't worth a full 2BR apartment to your employer, you shouldn't be allowed to work for part of it, you should be forced to rely on government entirely. I think it's a good thing that low-wage employees are partially government-subsidized, not because I like government subsidies, but because I dislike hard thresholds and cutoffs that make people have to jump over a significant gap in order to make small net gains. And, as you say, there's nothing inherently wrong with not being able to afford a 2BR apartment on your own. My sister can't afford a 2BR apartment, so she lives in a spare room in my house. My friends (teen parents) likewise can't afford a 2BR apartment, so they live in the other spare room in my house. There's certainly an argument to be made for doing more to subsidize corner cases (single unskilled mom with a few kids, no source of child support, etc.) but messing with the minimum wage isn't a particularly effective method.