I think you are stretching the argument beyond reasoning. Nobody would show up to walmart in between shitting in the street and sleeping in a tent and trying to live and remain healthy on food that doesn't require a fridge while hoping that nobody stole even those final earthly possessions while I was working. At some point where the bottom 25-30% are living like this people either organize and force change or collectively burn shit down and kill the rich.
You'd think that, but my experience living in the Third World is that people will accept a lot. i.e. the market clearing price can definitely drop below what you think is the minimum wage for a decent living.
All of this is just to say that, empirically, I have seen the following to not be true in the sense that you mean it (required to live being short for "required to live a decent standard of living"), though it is true in the literal sense that I described it:
> In a truly free market with no government fingers on the scale no worker would ever work for less than is required to live or at least they wouldn't work for long at such a wage.
