Wrong doings in the Economy

"...1998 it took, on average nationwide, an hourly wage of $8.89 to afford a one-bedroom apartment." (Ehrenreich 377) How can this be when, in America the mini. wage for employees is $5.15 an hour. Although some employers pay a dollar or two more, this still isnt a wage that many americans can live off of and raise a family with. In the artical Nickel-and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich, she went undercover to "experience poverty" (375) and the hardships of welfare. Through her experiment she found that in the end of one month she had earned $22 of 'left over' money which is less then what she started with and this dosnt include buying clothes or medical supply. In another part of the world, poor women are facing much different working conditions. Women in bangladesh on get paied 1.6 cents for every harvard baseball cap they make. (Hayden and Karnaghn 385) Eventhough, this is a horrable situation for third world countries, if we changed this how would it effect our economie in america? Would raising sweatshop wages also raise prices for everyday products, toys and other sporting goods? Both of these articiles make very good and valid points, but what can we do to save our economy ?