US President Barack Obama today made his case again for an increase in the national minimum wage, saying no American who works full-time should have to raise a family in poverty.

"Ask yourself, could you live on $14,500 a year?" Obama said in his weekly address to the American public. "That's what someone working full time on the minimum wage makes. If they're raising kids, that's below the poverty line," he said.

Obama proposed raising the national minimum to $9 per hour in his 2013 State of the Union address and now wants to raise the minimum wage to $10.10. But the idea has gained little traction among Republicans who control the House of Representatives.

"Raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, or ten-ten, would benefit 28 million American workers," Obama said in his address.

"And these aren't just high schoolers on their first job. The average worker who would benefit is 35 years old. Most low wage workers are women and that extra money would help them pay the bills and provide for their families. It also means they'll have more money to spend on local business which grows the economy for everyone," Obama said.

The President's push to raise the minimum wage, which has largely found success in liberal-leaning coastal states to date, could make headway in the conservative heartland in the November elections.

Voters in the Republican-controlled states of Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota will consider ballot initiatives in November that would raise the minimum wage above the national rate of $7.25 per hour. Activists on both sides of the issue say the proposals stand a good chance of passing.

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