The Faces of Minimum Wage in Los Angeles' Financial District

Priya Garg lives on $63 from a full day of work. That’s even before taxes get taken out of the paychecks she gets every other Friday.

The 19-year-old grew up in India and has called Los Angeles home for the past four months.

“My sister moved out here two and a half years ago and she kept telling me how great it was and that I had to come visit,” she said. “So I finished school through grade 12 and made the leap even though I didn’t have any money in savings or anything.”

She quickly found a full-time job at a clothing store in Los Angeles’ Financial District a couple of weeks after moving. But, she said, she wishes she would’ve known about how expensive life in the area is, especially since she makes minimum wage.

“My parents are sending me money from home because I don’t make enough to live off of. I’ve had to make so many compromises already to stay here,” Garg said.

Garg shares a room in an apartment in the Financial District with her older sister for $800 a month. She would prefer to live somewhere else with lower rent, but doesn’t have enough money for a car and has to live within walking distance of her job, she said.

“At the end of the month, there’s just no money left,” she said. “After paying for rent, utilities and groceries, really nothing is going into my savings. It doesn’t matter that I’m working a full-time job because today’s minimum wage isn’t enough.”

Garg said she’s “ecstatic” that her wage will be increasing to $10 an hour on January 1 of next year. The pay raise is part of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s approved plan to raise L.A. wages to $15 an hour by 2020.

Despite a larger paycheck, Garg still plans on being frugal with her spending to save as much money as she can from each paycheck.

Lorenzo Aguir has had many jobs in the 42 years of his life, often times, having at least two at one time. He’s worked at multiple liquor stores, at a security company and most recently, at The Cleaners Depot in L.A.’s Financial District.

“I make more than minimum wage now, but for five years it was really a struggle,” he said. “Imagine trying to raise children on that little money. Diapers, formula, car insurance, rent and bills are all so expensive.”

Aguir splits his 45-hour workweek between The Cleaners Depot and a security company and said he’s grateful to make slightly more than minimum wage at each job. Rent is too expensive near his job in the Financial District, so he and his family live several miles outside of downtown L.A.

His fear, however, is that he doesn’t know what will happen when Mayor Garcetti’s wage raise is implemented.

“What’s going to happen to everyone who has worked for five or six years to earn raises and get their wages to $15 an hour? Are their employers going to give them another raise or do they go back to the bottom? Now people are coming out with no education, no degree and they’ll make $15 an hour right out of the gate,” he said.

Aguir said as the minimum wage increases, he foresees everything else, like the cost of living and food, increasing too.

“It’s already hard enough to manage finances as a father with two children and I know it’s only going to be getting harder. I already don’t live in this area because it costs so much and I don’t want to have to move if my rent goes up,” he said.

The only option Aguir said he has is to keep pushing for better-paying jobs so he can support his family.

For 36-year-old Anne Alterjos, making minimum wage is just a part of what she said she signed up for by working in the food industry. She has bounced around working at different restaurants for years and now works for minimum wage at Big Sugar Bakeshop in L.A.’s Financial District.

“Working for minimum wage sucks of course, but I’m only doing it for the job. I enjoy the food industry, so that’s the only reason I would do that,” she said.

Alterjos said the passion she has for her two current jobs makes up for the sacrifices she has to make. Budgeting her money is an every day task but it’s made easier because of help from her family.

“I love working at my family’s restaurant because my parents have taught me everything I know,” Alterjos said. “I still live with them and not paying rent is a burden I don’t have to carry.”

Despite being free of living costs, she said, paying for other things like car payments, insurance and trying to save for her own home adds up quickly. Her plan is to take over her parent’s business in several years, so until then, Alterjos said she wants to take on as many positions in the food industry to get herself ready for that transition.