OP, I'm late to the party on this thread, but there's so many variables. I do agree, it's very tough to live on minimum wage.

I'm in Arkansas - state minimum wage is $6.25, however the federal is $7.25. Not sure about other states, but here, the federal rate overrides the state wage...therefore, it's $7.25/hr here.

Now, in my area, a person can acquire a one bedroom apartment for about $350/month. Doing the math right there, it's about 48 hrs of work to be able to make rent. That's not factoring in whether a person could potentially increase their ability with OT hrs.

To me, if a person can pay their rent with one week's pay, they are living within their means. Again, that's just for a single person, and whether they have kids or not, debt, personal issues, etc only stacks onto the equation.

Mind you, the $350/month apartment mentioned above is small, possibly way lower than average, and would most definitely not accommodate a single person with kids.