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in my opinion, it would be the same. you have to remember, back in the days of the older generation, minimum wage was lower than it was now. minimum wage reflects the times. we live in a very expensive era where everything cost an arm and a leg. (the opinion of a 22 year old history student)

Well, it is possible to be comfortable even on a minimum wage, even I am learning to live on less. There are a couple of things I have learned. It takes a real extreme tightening of the belt.

One lesson is do not live beyond your means. If you cannot pay for it in full in cash, then do not buy it. That goes with only three exceptions and that is when buying a house, car and food. But even with a car, every vehicle that I have owned, I have payed in full. The only thing I would EVER use a credit card for is if it is an extreme emergency, and if I have the money to cover it later.

Second I have also learned is if you need something, learn to look for a good deal, (there is no shame in going to goodwill or thrift stores, I have found designer clothes there). If all else fails, learn to make it yourself. Making it yourself can save a lot of money over time, and it can be fun, I make my own cleaning supplies that way.

And also, learn to manage your money, dont be afraid of it. If you need any suggestions, pm me, I am not a financial worker, but I know how to live on a tight belt.

Lucky Lass you need to check up on Mr. Obama before you vote, check on your candidates before you give them the control of your country.

When I was 18, minimum wage was $3.35/hr. Prices were lower, but I agree with others, we did not go out to eat very often, we did not have all the electronics kids have now. Very few teenagers had their own phone extension in their rooms, let alone their own private phone line/number (cell phones didn't exist, folks). When you wanted to talk to your friends, you talked on the phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen. Yes, corded to the wall.

We had record players, and my big Christmas gift one year was a cassette tape recorder. I didn't have my own TV until my sophomore year of college. My family had an Atari with about half a dozen games, and that's only because one of my father's coworkers had won a second console and was selling it cheap. I was the only one of my friends to have such a thing, so they call came over to my house and we played Pac Man and Breakout and the like.

So yes, it was less, but honestly, I don't think we expected it to go as far as younger folks today do.

If by 'minimum wage' you mean the federally-established minimum (some states have set theirs higher), the answer is 'not comfortably'.

With a crummy apartment and roommates to share the bills, in an area with good public transportation and a lower cost of living, yes, I've survived on it. I wasn't comfortable and I had no savings, but I managed.

something not addressed yet that really affects whether you can or can't live on minimum wage: housing, food, property tax, sales tax, etc all vary from state to state, so what might be able to support someone in Oregon wouldn't be able to support someone in California, or whatever. you get the idea. And I recently saw a news special where they were interviewing people who used to be able to live on minimum, but now they can't, they are standing in soup kitchen lines and such.
Also to consider are house payments/ apt rent. and car payments, and groceries, and health insurance (or med bills without insurance) gas, electricity bills, gas bills, buying cloths (buying at thrift stores and only when you need it) pluss property tax, if applicable, and no "fun money"....add that all up, and I'd say No way.
So, being a 26 year old who's lived on my own off and on (in two countries), I'd say most people cannot live on minimum wage unless their house is a carboard box.(or they are sharing the rent, as was mentioned earlier.) Add a family into the equation, and you get really desperate people working 3 jobs and still just scraping by. I thank God I had a family who could send me through school so I could not be stuck in such a bind. But I know people who are.

One thing Gen Y and Millenials are different is they define "work ethics" differently.

Gen X of which I am one, I think of work ethics as respecting the boss and working hard to earn my way up to higher positions with time. That includes doing some things which may be either difficult to do or may be tedious, but one lives with it.

Gen Y and Millenials have higher expectations of the work place and want more instant gratification because of the way entertainment in their lives has been constantly presented to them. If they aren't happy with what one person says they can leave that webpage and never come back. Gen X treats it as relationships that one has to build trust between people, instead of skipping out on the relationship as easily.

But perhaps I'm just full of bull and don't know what Gen Y and Millenials are like, because after all we're all individuals not groups. It's only shared experiences shaping us as groups that seems to make the groups their own identities.