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.