The Minimum Wage, Part 2:
How many workers earn the minimum wage?
27 Nov 2006 in Regulatory Economics, Regulatory Policy
For an informed discussion of the federal minimum wage, it's helpful to know how many workers are earn the minimum wage.
The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys regularly workers:
Who are these people? Here's a table that helps. We have combined workers paid at or below the minimum wage because BLS says many survey respondents probably rounded down to the nearest dollar ($5.00) instead of reporting their actual wage rate (such as the $5.15 minimum).
We've highlighted in red the demographic categories in which minimum wage workers are disproportionately represented. These categories include
- Part-time workers
- Young adults
- Never married women
- Those with less than a high school education
|
CHARACTERISTICS OF MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS, 2005
(includes workers reporting to be paid below the minimum wage) |
||||||
|
Demographic |
% |
% |
% |
|||
|
Race
|
||||||
|
White |
80.6 |
81.7 |
2.5 |
|||
|
Black |
13.0 |
11.4 |
2.2 |
|||
|
Asian |
3.6 |
3.5 |
2.4 |
|||
|
Hispanic |
16.6 |
14.9 |
2.2 |
|||
|
Full Time and Part Time Employment
|
||||||
|
FT All |
75.9 |
39.9 |
1.3 |
|||
|
FT Men |
42.2 |
17.1 |
1.0 |
|||
|
FT Women |
33.7 |
22.8 |
1.7 |
|||
|
PT All |
23.9 |
59.8 |
6.2 |
|||
|
PT Men |
7.5 |
17.4 |
5.8 |
|||
|
PT Women |
16.4 |
42.5 |
6.4 |
|||
|
Age
|
||||||
| 16-24 |
21.7 |
59.1 |
6.1 |
|||
| 16-24 Men |
11.0 |
18.8 |
4.3 |
|||
| 16-24 Women |
10.7 |
34.5 |
8.0 |
|||
|
Marital Status
|
||||||
|
Never |
16.3 |
39.3 |
6.0 |
|||
|
Education
|
||||||
| Less Than High School |
16.7 |
29.8 |
4.4 |
|||
| High School Graduates |
83.3 |
70.2 |
2.1 |
|||
| College Graduates |
14.1 |
6.7 |
1.2 |
|||
