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Many people had lived in unsafe, and unsanitary conditions for one simple reason...they didn't get paid enough! There was a push during the Progressive Era to create a minimum wage to ensure that people could afford basic needs. People had lived in run-down, unsafe, housing that promoted disease and overcrowding. Tenements were built by people like Jane Addams and various religious groups, but that didn't solve the root of the problem. People like Rev. John A. Ryan pushed for what they referred to as a "Living Wage". Ryan was pushing for a living wage, or minimum wage that would ensure that people would be able to live comfortably. The thought was that a living wage would give people the financial stability they needed to live in safe and sanitary housing, as well as afford all of the basic needs of life.

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It is thought that living conditions and minimum wages have generally improved since the Progressive Era, but there is still more to be desired. Some people believe that the current minimum wage in the U.S. ($7.25 per hour) does not provide a living wage. This is a valid point considering that the average rent in the U.S. is $1,702. By this point, it is mostly agreed that people should be paid a living wage. However, it is debated on whether the minimum wage in the U.S. IS a living wage. To afford the average rent in the U.S. on minimum wage, you would have to work upwards of 60 hours a week just to pay rent. Then comes taxes, insurance, food expenses, etc. It would not be unrealistic to say that someone on minimum wage would have to work up to 16 hours a day to afford all of their expenses...just to live comfortably. Fight For $15 is one of the organizations who is fighting to raise minimum wage today so people can live comfortable lives. The foundation started in 2012 when two fast food workers in NYC walked off their job to demand union rights and $15 an hour. Fight For $15 has grown since then, they are now a global movement in over 300 cities. A minimum wage of $15 dollars an hour would ensure that people could live more comfortably. A minimum wage of $15 an hour would be a living wage, which is what we were pushing for in the beginning.

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Over the past 100+ years, humanity has changed drastically. We have had major advances in technology and medicine that have changed our lives for the better, however, this does not mean that some of the problems that plagued America all those years ago don't still remain today. Problems with living conditions in relation to minimum wage is still a major issue today, even in 2023. Back during the Progressive Era, people were living in run-down housing with many other people. Today, America faces a huge homelessness crisis that could be partially attributed to the same cause of the living conditions in the early 1900's...pay. People were not being paid enough then, and we still are not paying them enough now. People cannot live comfortably on such low wages, which has been shown over the past 100+ years. Back then people were put at risk by living in unsafe housing because they couldn't afford it. Now, people working minimum wage can barely afford housing at all, and most certainly not all of the basic needs of life that it was decided that all people should have those years ago. A minimum wage is still not a living wage in the U.S., and that has to change.