subsistence wage

He worked a 16-hour day for a subsistence wage (= enough money to buy only basic items) .

他一天工作16个小时，工资仅够勉强维持生计。

Tom earn a bare subsistence wage.

汤姆挣得工资勉强糊口.

He worked a 16-hour day for a subsistence wage.

他一天工作16个小时，工资仅够勉强维持生计。

Living on the outskirts of Taipei, where he earns a subsistence wage holding up real estate placards at a crowded intersection in the wind and rain, the unnamed character ( Lee Kang-sheng, the director's regular leading man) arrives at the dingy, abandoned apartment where he squats with his two children.

这个没有名字的角色由经常在蔡明亮片中出任主角的李康生饰演，他住在台北郊区，在车水马龙路口高举广告招牌维生，风雨无阻，赚着只能维持最低生活水准的工资，他和自己的两个孩子住在一处肮脏、废弃的公寓。