much. and coming up, what actually is a living wage in america in 2023? first up, though, quote, an absolute collapse, what the duel writers and actors strike will do not just to production but the release of movies and tv already finished. e release of mv already finished zyrtec! works hard at hour one and twice as hard when you take it again the next day. so betty can be the. barcode beat conductor. let s be more than our allergies!
she said she never wants her sons to grow up and feel like they re poor. then we talked to taylor maggie mendez in florida. they had a really rocky start moving from new york to florida. they were working overnights, minimum wage jobs, sometimes a little above minimum wage. now taylor makes $20 $30 in a bank job. both families though are getting assistance. so in the form of food stamps, medicaid, rental assistance. let s play this piece. reporter: the fact that neither family can make ends meet without help begs the question. what constitutes a living wage? m.i.t. has a living wage calculator which looks at the eight basic needs in the u.s. according to that, taylor would need to make $37.97 an hurry to support his family. nearly twice his current wage.
they re in a lot of cases making more than minimum wage but not as much as you might expect. talk about the living minimum wage for people in this country and the people who are saying that the economic success that we ve experienced over the decades has not trickled down to them. it s such a meta idea. what is a living wage? of course it will depend on where you live. a few months ago we sent out to find out how people are doing. we know people are voting with their pocket books west met families, people in different places. firstff let s go to ohio. a sing mom with four sons. she pieces together her employment. she cleans houses, she drives for door dash. she has a part-time job at ups. sheps makes about $7.50 an hour. she brings in $1,500 a month. she has a really full life. she volunteers. that s the video that we re seeing now.
of companies. some executives with the companies, and some are not. we re seeing the chickens come home here. the question is whether or not calmer minds will prevail, and people will finally sit down and make a deal, which they will eventually, but it looks like it s going to be very hot and heavy out there for a while. dominic patton, thank you very much for coming back. dominic p coming atton, tback.hank you it s been good very to have much fo r coyou. let s talk about what people make. the minimum wage is $7.25. a dollar as you know does not go as far as it used to back when it was set. especially with the historic inflation we ve been seeing recently. so how are americans making ends meet? joining me now, linth ever lindsey took a close look at the meaning of the living wage. when you think of hollywood, you think of the mega stars and all the money they re making. the vast majority of sag-aftra are not making much at all.
now at post shutdown, if you will, that they can t just be seen as intransgently standing in the way of everything. they ve got to find a way to get legislation through across the finish line and signed by the president. the budget deal is one of those. potentially, i still hold out hope that will come the spring, there s going to be some progress on immigration because they understand it needs to be done. there s a desire to get it done. that way they can go home next fall and say we did finally tackle that big issue. whether or not they resolve it with the senate we ll see. i believe they will eventually get to it so they can say we tried tackling that one also based on the fact that most of the nation wanted them to do it. it s all good. thank you both. bye, alex. come by to see the tree. it s beautiful right outside. see you. the fight for a living wage in america. what will congress do to help millions of minimum wage workers? i ll ask california congress woman, maxine wat