A 16 year old should absolutely make $31K

[My Good Babushka]

118. Well, I disagree

I'll say the same to you that I just said above. I live in a rural area. Our school district has gone to all free lunches for everyone because nearly all the children would qualify for free lunches. They collect backpacks full of food to send home with children on holidays and in summer send them home with lists of charities that provide free meals for children under 18. It is heart-breaking. A lot of their parents are in trouble, very sick, self-medicating, and sometimes in prison. They don't have computer access at home, and home is sometimes with different relatives from week to week. Many of the children have bad diets and are already getting obesity related illnesses. Kids around here are sick all the time. I think getting these people some stability is pretty important, and there is a big difference between 12 and 15 for these families.
House rentals, even very shabby houses, are between $700 -$900.

The farms in our area are actually quite profitable, and have their own stores. We buy our meat at a farm store and it is very popular and does brisk business. Recreational hay-mazes and wedding-venue type farms have opened and are thriving, but they don't employ many people, and the people they use are mostly family, and they probably pay more than 15 already. It's the larger employers, like Walmart, McDonald's and Yum Brand stores that are paying the lowest wages, and they employ the most people. There has been a recovery and a lot of people have been left out.