This July marks one year since Washington, DC raised its minimum wage from $8.25 an hour to $9.50. But Renee Patterson, who has worked as a teacher's aide for minimum wage for 10 years, says it hasn'y made much of a difference for her.

"I didn't even really know they had an increase," she admitted. "Staying on a certain budget, you just do everything according to that budget, even if you get a nickle or a dime more."

Patterson said her budget didn't allow for whole a lot. She lives in public housing and doesn't have a credit card. She does most of her shopping at the dollar store. That includes the $10 a month she budgets to decorate her door for upcoming holidays.

"You know, some of the things you enjoy in life, you need to just cut it out and ... be happy with what you have," she said. "Don't go beyond your means if you don't have to, don't put yourself into a bind or depend on other people to help you. That's how I've been survivin'."

The fight for $15

For two years, all across the country, hundreds of thousands of mainly fast food workers have taken to the streets. They're demanding a higher minimum wage, paid sick leave and union rights. Washington DC's "Fight for 15" campaign is part of that movement.

Activist Jeremiah Lowery said, "To actually afford to live in this city, to actually have a decent standard of living, decent housing, you need at least $15 an hour in DC."

He canvassed outside busy metro stations every Wednesday to recruit advocates for what he called a living wage.

"We're really trying to build up worker power. And that's why we're out here. We're trying to get workers involved in our campaign. We're trying to invite them out to meetings, we're trying to invite them out to barbeques, so that they have a say in the process of this campaign so it can be worker-led," said Lowery.

Effect of a higher minimum wage

Economists are still torn on the effect raising the minimum wage has on the local and national economy.