Still, people make far less per hour doing far more than basic front-end work today.
Don't get me wrong, I think he should make as much as he can get away with making, but 22.00 an hour really isn't scraping the bottom of the barrel for programming work in a lot of places, not even in the US.
$22 an hour for programming is definitely scrapping the bottom of the barrel in the US (unless you're an intern or trainee).
I live in a pretty cheap area of the US, and the only place I've seen jobs paying that poorly is on odesk (and most of these jobs are taken by people in low cost of living countries).
If you're working for $22 an hour, you're selling yourself short.
Don't get me wrong, I think he should make as much as he can get away with making, but 22.00 an hour really isn't scraping the bottom of the barrel for programming work in a lot of places, not even in the US.