Something as simple as a pair of “Cars” sneakers can make a huge difference in a family’s budget.  UAW Local 685 in Kokomo, Ind., handed out school supplies and shoes to more than 200 children Tuesday at its headquarters during the annual UAW giveaway, the  Kokomo Tribune reported .

We reported this week the federal minimum wage hasn't increased in three years . If the minimum wage increased with inflation, it would be $10.55, not $7.25 as it is today. In no state can a minimum wage employee working a 40-hour week afford a two-bedroom apartment. This is why the AFL-CIO is urging Congress to pass the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2012 . 

Today marks the third year minimum wage workers haven't seen a raise. While the price of just about everything else has skyrocketed (milk, eggs, health care, college), full-time minimum wage workers are barely making more than $15,000 a year. Here are 10 facts you need to know about the minimum wage. 

Oren M. Levin-Waldman is professor of public policy at the Metropolitan College of New York and the author of “ Wage
Policy, Income Distribution, and Democratic Theory .”

Over the past four decades, the United States has seen middle-class wages stagnate and income inequality rise. Increasing income inequality is a problem because it reflects the decline of the middle class and the disappearance of middle-class jobs. But it also threatens the survival of a democratic society.