Entry-level jobs for dependent minors (by definition for a “paper boy”, strongly implied for “an entry level fast food position”) are not relevant examples in a discussion of whether it is ethical for Wal-Mart to pay wages that leave its employees qualified for government welfare, institutionalized to the point where it streamlines the welfare application process – dependents don’t qualify for welfare unless they’re part of a family whose principal earner(s) so qualify. Obviously, this institutionalized arrangement is undertaken in the expectation that one’s employees are primary breadwinners, but not paid sufficiently to be self-supporting, with the intent of foisting part of the natural minimum cost of labor off on the taxpayers.
When I was in high school - a job stocking shelves at Wal Mart was popular. I worked retail in a shopping mall. My wife cleaned doctor’s offices. All of these paid minimum wage.
What about any particular job qualifies it as a minimum wage vs. a living wage job?