Ed

Demographics of Persons Earning

Minimum Wage or Less; effect of
increasd MW.
NICOLAS MARTIN SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2016

Demographics of minimum wage (or less) workers:

1. Nearly half are under 25
2. They comprise 3.9 percent of all workers, including 10% of part-time workers and 2% of
full-time workers
3. About 60% female
4. About 4% of white and black workers get MW or less, and 3% of Hispanics and Asians
5. Among hourly paid workers age 16 and older, about 7 percent of those without a high
school diploma earned the federal minimum wage or less, compared with about 4 percent of
those who had a high school diploma (with no college), 4 percent of those with some college
or an associate degree, and about 2 percent of college graduates.
6. Of those paid an hourly wage, never-married workers, who tend to be young, were more
likely (7 percent) than married workers (2 percent) to earn the federal minimum wage or
less.
7. The industry with the highest percentage of workers earning hourly wages at or below the
federal minimum wage was leisure and hospitality (18 percent). Over half of all workers paid
at or below the federal minimum wage were employed in this industry, the vast majority in
restaurants and other food services. For many of these workers, tips may supplement the
hourly wages received.
8. The states with the highest percentages of hourly paid workers earning at or below the
federal minimum wage were Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee (all
between 6 percent and 7 percent). The states with the lowest percentages of hourly paid
workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage were Alaska, California, Oregon, and
Washington (all between 1 percent and 2 percent).
Typically young; more likely to be part-time; overrepresented in industry where tips may be
major income; more likely to be white or black and Asian or Hispanic; less educated; less
likely to be married; more likely to live in states with lower costs of living.
Source: U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics
http://goo.gl/QTi0tv

"...in its 2014 report on a $10.10 minimum wage, the Congressional Budget Office estimated
that the higher minimum wage would, across all programs, have little net effect on the
federal budget...
"In this study, Dr. Joseph Sabia of San Diego State University, working with graduate student
Thanh Tam Nguyen, examines 35 years of government data across a number of different
datasets including the Current Population Survey, the Survey of Income and Program
Participation, welfare caseload data, and National Income and Product Accounts. Their
results suggest that, on net, minimum wage increases have little to no ameliorating effect on
participation in (or spending on) a range of means-tested programs.
"For instance, the authors find that federal and state minimum wage increases have had no
measurable impact on the use by working-age adults of SNAP, Medicaid, Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
program. In some specifications, they find evidence of an increase in the use of free and
reduced-price lunches (FRPL) and housing subsidies following minimum wage increases.
The authors also examine net welfare caseloads and taxpayers expenditures on those
programs. They find no statistically significant evidence that a higher minimum wage has
reduced participation in or spending on public programs...
"among those who would be affected by a $15 minimum wage, just 12 percent are SNAP
recipients and just 10 percent are Medicaid recipients."
Source; Employment Policies Institute
https://www.epionline.org/?p=5182
The increased earnings for low-wage workers resulting from the higher minimum wage
would total $31 billion, by CBOs estimate.2 However, those earnings would not go only to
low-income families, because many low-wage workers are not members of low-income
families. Just 19 percent of the $31 billion would accrue to families with earnings below the
poverty threshold, whereas 2. All effects on income are reported for the second half of 2016;
annualized (that is, multiplied by two); and presented in 2013 dollars.
29 percent would accrue to families earning more than three times the poverty threshold,
CBO estimates...
Families whose income would have been between one and three times the poverty threshold
would receive, on net, $3 billion in additional real income. About $1 billion, on net, would go
to families whose income would have been between three and six times the poverty
threshold.
By CBOs estimate, about 1 12 per- cent of the 33 million workers who otherwise would have
earned less than $11.50 per hour would be jobless [if the minimum ware were raised to
$10.10] either because they lost a job or because they could not find a job as a result of
the increase in the minimum wage.
Source: Congressional Budget Office, 2014.
http://goo.gl/1XuP9p

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