“Nobody who works 40 hours a week should live in poverty.” This sentiment has been expressed by Democrats from Vice President Joe Biden to Senator Bernie Sanders, and is used to support raising the minimum wage from the current federal level of $7.25 per hour to $12 or even $15 per hour. But the “40 hours a week” mantra misdiagnoses poverty in America. The largest cause of poverty is not low wages but lack of work altogether.
https://fee.org/articles/raising-the-minimum-wage-wont-alleviate-poverty-lowering-it-might/
https://fee.org/articles/raising-the-minimum-wage-wont-alleviate-poverty-lowering-it-might/