The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.  If a minimum wage worker is employed full-time (forty hours per week for 52 weeks), thatworker would earn $15,080 annually.

In 2011, the poverty threshold for a single individual was $11,702 and the poverty threshold for a family of 4 with two children under 18 was $22,881. 

Thus, a single full-time minimum wage worker has an income above the poverty threshold but if a full-time minimum wage worker is the sole source of income in a family of four, that family’s income is only 66% of the amount required to meet its basic needs.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Poverty Thresholds for 2011 by Size of Family and Number of Related Children Under 18 Years (XLS format), Accessed 2/13/2012.

U.S. Dept. of Labor. Wages.  Accessed 2/15/2012.