Will Hain

3. Do you feel that race was a factor in getting hired or finding an apartment for Morgan and Alex? What about the fact that they had no children?
Race and family size are actually huge factors in finding a job or house. Minorities are usually offered jobs that pay less and involve more physical labor. Anglo-American men tend to get jobs that pay better and are higher up on the totem pole of that company. Morgan and Alex are both white, so people were more willing to hire them. On the other hand, some companies like to hire minorities to make themselves seem more fair and non-racist. All of this basically applies to finding a home. Some people are less willing to offer houses/apartments to certain ethnic groups in neighborhoods where they aren't common.
Family is also a big factor. People are more willing to offer you a job or home if you have a family. Since Morgan and Alex weren't officially married, and had no kids, people would be less likely to offer them work/housing versus someone with a husband/wife and kids. If you have a family, people realize you need the money more than if you were single, but may also take advantage of that; offering you less, know you need the money more. It's the same way with houses. But it also makes a company look better when they hire "family men".

6. Do you agree with Sen. Ted Kennedy's argument that raising the minimum wage helps families? What about the opposing side that is against raising the minimum wage (big business in the U.S.)?
I definitely believe that raising the minimum wage would help families! The cost of living has gone up since his law was passed, and the minimum wage needs to go up to meet that. And it's not like multi-million/billion corporations are going to go broke paying a few dollars a day more to the employees doing the grunt work. A common misconception is that these minimum wage workers are teenagers doing it for a little extra spending money. The fact is that most minimum wage workers are grown adults trying to keep their families alive, aren't getting paid enough to be able to. As for those opposing it, a lot of arguments I hear opposing the raising of minimum wage involve "putting the shame back in being poor", "not 'shocking' the system" or "giving people incentive to work their way out of the lower class" but really, all they want is more money for themselves.