Wages

I've been thinking a lot about labor regulations in the U.S. We are very proud of the fact that workers only have to do a 40 hour week, while in other parts of the world, looser restrictions mean people have to work 50-60 (even more) hours per week without overtime. (Of course, I'm basically just referring to low-income jobs; high-income jobs like doctors and lawyers often involve much more than 40 hours a week).

We in the U.S. are happy, even smug, to know that our low-income laborers are not being taken advantage of, and are not having to work unreasonable hours.

However, what nobody mentions is the fact that minimum wage in the U.S. is barely enough to support one person. Most people, even single people, really need more than one 40 hour per week job in order to subsist. At least in other parts of the world, people can work 60 hours a week at one job, unlike in the States where people have to spread 60 hours over two or three jobs in different places.