50% of Americans have less than $500 in their savings accounts, while most of the world survives off of $2.00 a day.

Raising the minimum wage to $15.00 is a start, creating affordable housing and education, another, equal pay for women only makes sense, as women do make up the majority of the American workplace. Teaching financial planning in grade school should be mandatory, while creating manufacturing jobs in the US is definitely a way to boost the economy.

In 2012, manufacturers contributed $2.03 trillion to the economy, up from $1.93 trillion in 2011. This was 12.5 percent of GDP. For every $1.00 spent in manufacturing, another $1.32 is added to the economy, the highest multiplier effect of any economic sector.

1.Manufacturing supports an estimated 17.4 million jobs in the United States—about one in six private-sector jobs. More than 12 million Americans (or 9 percent of the workforce) are employed directly in manufacturing.

2. In 2012, the average manufacturing worker in the United States earned $77,505 annually, including pay and benefits. The average worker in all industries earned $62,063.

3. Manufacturers in the United States are the most productive in the world, far surpassing the worker productivity of any other major manufacturing economy, leading to higher wages and living standards.

4. Manufacturers in the United States perform two-thirds of all private-sector R&D in the nation, driving more innovation than any other sector.

5. Taken alone, manufacturing in the United States would be the 8th largest economy in the world.-