$15 minimum wage allows few luxuries

Wendy Harrison, a waitress at the icon Grill in Seattle, carries food to a table as she works during lunchtime this week.

SEATTLE – A $15 minimum wage like the one adopted in Seattle doesn’t buy many luxuries in most American cities.

Lattes, theater tickets and cable television will still be out of reach for most minimum-wage workers. But about $31,000 a year should be enough to pay the average rent for a shared one-bedroom apartment, plus utilities, health insurance, groceries and an inexpensive cellphone plan.

Monday’s vote by the Seattle City Council created the nation’s highest minimum wage. The state minimum wage in Washington was already $9.32 an hour, th e highest state wage in the U.S.

What do you think an acceptable minimum wage should be?