Affording the bare necessities IS exactly what a living wage is.
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Living wage is a term used to describe the minimum hourly wage necessary for a person to achieve some specific standard of living. This standard generally means that a person working forty hours a week should be able to afford a specified quality or quantity of housing, food, utilities, transport, health care, and recreation.
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Critics argue that basic economic theory suggests a mandated minimum price for labor, a "living wage," is harmful to low-wage workers and increases unemployment. Artificially fixing a price for labor above the market price causes a decrease in the overall demand for labor, leading to increased unemployment and a deadweight loss. Workers who lose their jobs would not receive the living wage. Furthermore, such wage increases can cause inflation, increasing the cost of living and decreasing the relative buying power of the living wage, which leaves the minimum wage earner no better off.
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Care to find the "Living wage" in your area?
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For example, Elverson PA - Annual Before Tax Income $20,009