You're absolutely right, Kim. $10/hr is not enough to live on, for the reasons you cited, among others. But at Costco that's just starting pay--at Walmart starting pay is even worse. And the health care comparisons I listed earlier (15 Sept 2004 5:46 AM) make the single mom Walmart employee's situation pretty dreadful, much worse than with Costco.

What's more, Walmart is touted as creating lots of jobs. Most are at the low end, so this gives an idea of what those jobs really are like. But every person who takes a job with Walmart then would not be counted as unemployed. Manufacturing and high-tech jobs are being lost in the US, and Walmart low-end jobs are being created---this is Mr. Bush's "improving economy".