The State of Mississippi currently has no minimum wage and unfortunately, employees often find themself getting paid $7.50 an hour, the federal minimum wage. This is unacceptable and awful. To put it into perspective, here’s a list of things that a minimum wage employee would struggle to buy. A minimum wage employee in the State of Mississippi would have to work 4 and a half hours in order to fill the average gas tank. A minimum wage employee in the State of Mississippi would have to work about 40-80 hours just to pay for the average cost of a doctors visit without health insurance. And even if they had health insurance, they would have to work about 63 hours just to cover the average monthly cost of health care for an individual. By simply raising the minimum wage to just $9.40, the average minimum wage nationwide, we could positively impact many lives, especially those living in the impoverished regions of an already impoverished state. This $9.40 minimum wage would allow for minimum wage employees to afford a tank of gas in just 3.4 hours, 30-60 for a doctors visit, and 48 hours for a monthly healthcare payment. It’s time the State of Mississippi at least tried to pay employees a living wage and this could be a start.