LOL
When you start with a faulty premise (that a lowly food service worker can support a family of 4), you can't help but continue with poor logic.
Sure, back 50 years ago someone working the night shift at the diner could "afford" to survive. In a 2-room apartment. With no TV. Just a radio. No car. No phone. (Cell or otherwise.) Food was scarce. Vacations didn't exist. Oh, and it was just a single mom and "Jr." It wasn't a family of 4. It was a family of 2. If you worked REALLY hard at saving $, on Saturday, you could skip dinner and splurge and get an ice-cream sundae.
How do I know? My mom was that little girl. Mimi was the single mom. It was 1950. We had it somewhat better than that when I was growing up. My kids have never ever gone hungry. You can't compare what I have today with a $15/hr (or $10 or $8). Someone working McD's could no question survive. But our definition of "survive" has changed in 40 years. Now we need a car, a vacation, an iPhone, a flat-screen 56" TV and a full cable package. Yeahno. Liberry-cards are free, mutha-truckas! And you'll learn your sorry ass out of that job and into a better one. It's not my job to take care of you because you won't make something of yourself.
Don't get me staaaahtid!