The issue of Mexico’s low national minimum wage is gaining national attention after the government of Mexico City suggested it could act to raise the salary on a local level.

The debate at a city-sponsored forum this week highlights the near-universal dissatisfaction with the country’s minimum wage of just over 67 pesos per day, or about $5.

While Mexico’s Constitution says the minimum should be sufficient to provide for the basic needs of a worker and his or her family, a single person could easily spend a day’s minimum salary on one meal at a low-cost restaurant.

Mexico’s wage is among the lowest in the hemisphere.

Mexicans who earn close to the minimum said Friday their lives are a constant struggle to make ends meet.