Like most people, whenever I hear the term “minimum-wage earner” I think of some high school kid working at a fast food restaurant.

But, more and more, the face of the low-wage earner is changing. It could be an older person who has lost his or her decent-paying job for whatever reason, or a single mother just trying to make ends meet in this slow-growing economy.

Recently, a coalition of business groups was formed to combat any increase to the minimum wage here in Michigan. They intend to use any means at their disposal to accomplish their goal — from lawsuits to negative attack ads.

There is one group that is forgotten or ignored in this struggle — Michigan’s working mothers. Many struggle daily just to survive.

According to recent findings by the Working Poor Families Project, about 42 percent of the low-income families in Michigan are headed by women. That’s 132,146 families in our state struggling just to get by. Many of these single mothers are employed as low wage healthcare aides, cashiers and household servants.

The average wage for these jobs is $10.49 per hour and the low-income threshold for a family of three is $36,966 per year. Try raising a family on that.

In 2013, one out of seven families in Michigan faced hunger on a daily basis. Here in Niles, the current child poverty rate hovers at about 30 percent.

By attacking any increase to the minimum wage, conservatives are sentencing these mothers and their children to a lifetime of struggle while corporate America continues to make record profits and do everything in its power not to pay adequate wages.

According to the report, addressing these issues must begin at the state level. Michigan is currently one of the top 10 states for the wage gender gap and that must also be resolved.

It begins by paying them an honest wage and not attacking them with welfare-based stereotypes.

The lack of adequate employment also leads to other factors that seek to undermine our working families such as depression, drug use and physical and emotional abuse. In order to help these single parent families, our state must band together to fix some of these issues.

For instance, we must increase the minimum wage, provide more government assisted childcare, provide more need-based financial aid to part time students, look at ways to provide paid sick and family leave, expand Medicaid eligibility and restore the state Earned Income Credit to at least its previous level before Gov. Rick Snyder cut it to give away corporate tax breaks.

The greatness of our nation depends upon the strength of its families.

Too often I’ve heard people say that these women have made bad decisions and must pay for their mistakes. That is nothing more than a callous excuse that allows people to ignore these economically besieged families.

We live in a changing world with the number of single parent households increasing. It’s the children that suffer when we deny working families essential social services and the ability to meet life’s most basic needs.

Raising the minimum wage is a good start and an investment in our future.

William Crandell is a community activist and member of the Michigan Education Association and the Michigan Democratic Party. He is also a member of the South County Democratic Club where he has served as their communications director and as the chairperson of the SCDC Blue Tiger Community Action Committee.