Minimum Wage Quick Fact

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics [pdf], in 2018 approximately 2 percent of workers’ earnings sat at or below the current federal minimum wage. Most of these were under 25 years old, unmarried, had little or no higher education, and worked in the service industry. Among adults earning at or below the minimum wage, the Employment Policy Institute reports that only 6 percent were the sole source of income in the home, while 80 percent of those with children in the home were out-earned more than 4-to-1 by their household co-earners.