As the fight for a $15 minimum wage continues in 2017, many people are wondering If it will be enough. Well, let's answer that question. In this article, we will prove beyond the shadow of a doubt, that $15 per hour may not be enough.

We all constantly hear about the fight for $15, but what does the math actually say?

Let us break it down, assuming no taxes are taken out (Yes, taxes are a Real expense, but for the purpose of this exercise, let us keep it simple?) The current minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, for 40 full-time hours a week, that's $290 per week.

For one month, We multiply that by four weeks, giving us that's $1,160 per month.

A two bedroom apartment rarely goes below $600 per month. Let's use $500 just to make a point. So $1160-$500=$660.The average family uses about 150kwh per month. 1 kilowatt (KW) Costs $0.0715 in Washington dc and $0.3353 in Hawaii. Let's use the national average of $0.1045. 150Kwh X 0.1045= $15.45 per month, $660-15.45=$644.55.

So Far, So good.

Most, if not all households have at least one phone per member of the household, as it's the cheapest, most convenient way to stay in touch. Most households go for the No-contract option, as its most affordable. Your average No-contract plan is about $30-$60 per month, so I'll meet in the middle and say $45, most Households have two cellular devices.

That brings us to $90 per month.. $644.55-$90=$544.55.

For most households with children, tv/the internet is a primary source of entertainment. Unless one is lucky enough to live in a large city, where one can use Over-the-Air broadcast television. The cable and internet packages found in the making of this article can run as much as $110 or more.

Using $110 for this example, $544.55-$110=$444.55

Natural gas for 2016 cost $223 in dc, (that's for the full year) and was $410 in Connecticut (again, full year) making the average somewhere in the $316 range. Since this whole explanation is a monthly expense based expense, were going have to break that down. $316/12 months=$26.4 per month.

We then subtract $444.45-26.40=418.05.

OK, we're still in the clear.

Assuming the family already owns a car, with no payments to be made, Car insurance on average costs $1300 across 6 months, so like with natural gas, well have to break it down.$1300/6 months=$216 per month. We then subtract $418.05-$216=202.05 Federal law requires both car insurance and health care be purchased. According to Forbes, government healthcare runs about $20,000 per year. Again, we have to break it down.$20,000/12 months=$1,666. So let us do The Math. $202.05-$1666= −$1,463.95

Wait a sec, That's not enough!

Yes, One could cut out the internet, the tv, and the car insurance. That will free up an extra $300 per month.

Your monthly expense using all of the national averages is $2,683. At $15 per hour, assuming you're lucky enough to get 40 per week, you're looking at $2400 per month, again, that's before taxes come out, so even $15 per hour isn't enough. It would take a minimum wage of at least $16 per hour just to break even. And then, you'd still be out of luck for groceries.