Which of the following most logically completes the passage?

Between 1995 and 2000, the minimum wage in Laconia increased by 15 percent. However, even though all Laconian minimum-wage workers were subject to the increase, and inflation during this period was less than 3 percent, most Laconians who worked for minimum wage during this period were no more comfortable in 2000 than they were in 1995, primarily because_______.


(A)between 1995 and 2000 the number of Laconians working for minimum wage had been constantly increasing.

(B)during this time, most Laconian minimum-wage workers had no other source of income.

(C)between 1995 and 2000, most products consumed by Laconians working for minimum wage increased in price by 5 percent.

(D)Laconian minimum-wage workers did not have to pay any property or income taxes in 1995, a situation which had changed by 2000.

(E)most elderly people in Laconia received insignificant benefit, which was not sufficient to make a living, and their children who often worked for minimum wage had to support them financially.