> an American making minimum wage can easily afford a mobile phone, particularly a cheap $25 phone
It's probably worth noting that "easily" probably doesn't belong in there for a lot of people.
This is a really good read, if you're interested https://residentcontrarian.substack.com/p/on-the-experience-...
Notice that most of this guy's problems come from rent. Getting decent housing is expensive, having a long commute is a byproduct of high rent, etc. That's caused by rampant NIMBYism preventing the construction of new housing, and not anything related to American minimum wage. If you increased the minimum wage 200% rent would also increase 200% because housing is inelastic. This exact trend has played out in the SFBA, Seattle, and many other west coast cities over the last decade. You can't legislate your way out of supply and demand.
In many parts of the world that mobile phone will require substantial budgeting over several months to afford.