Thursday, March 27, 2008
Tweet[IWS] BLS: CHARACTERISTICS of MINIMUM WAGE WORKERS: 2007 [25 March 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2007 [25 March 2008]
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2007.htm
or
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2007.pdf
[full-text, 13 pages]
According to Current Population Survey estimates for 2007, 75.9 million American workers were paid at hourly rates, representing
58.5 percent of all wage and salary workers.1 On July 24, 2007, the Federal minimum wage increased to $5.85 per hour from $5.15 per hour.
Data in this report reflect the average number of workers earning the prevailing Federal minimum wage or less for the year (those who earned
$5.15 or less from January 2007 through July 2007 and those who earned $5.85 or less from August 2007 through the end of the year).
Among those paid by the hour in 2007, 267,000 were reported as earning exactly the prevailing Federal minimum wage. Nearly 1.5 million
were reported as earning wages below the minimum. 2 Together, these 1.7 million workers with wages at or below the minimum made up 2.3
percent of all hourly-paid workers. Tables 1-10 present data on a wide array of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics for hourlypaid
workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage. The following are some highlights from the 2007 data.
-- Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they
made up almost half of those paid the Federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers paid by the hour, about 7 percent earned
the minimum wage or less, compared with fewer than 2 percent of workers age 25 and over. (See table 1 and table 7.)
-- About 3 percent of women paid hourly rates reported wages at or below the prevailing Federal minimum, compared with about 1 percent of
men. (See table 1.)
-- The percent of workers earning the minimum wage did not vary much across the major race and ethnic groups. About 2 percent of white,
black, Asian, and Hispanic hourly-paid workers earned the Federal minimum wage or less. (See table 1.)
-- Among hourly-paid workers age 16 and over, about 3 percent of those who had less than a high school diploma earned the minimum wage
or less, compared to 2 percent of those who had a high school diploma (with no college) and 1 percent of college graduates. (See table 6.)
-- Never-married workers, who tend to be young, were several times more likely than married workers to earn the minimum wage or less.
(See table 8.)
-- Part-time workers (persons who usually work less than 35 hours per week) were more likely than their full-time counterparts to be paid the
Federal minimum wage or less (about 5 percent versus 1 percent). (See table 1 and table 9.)
-- By major occupational group, the highest proportion of workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage was in service occupations,
about 7 percent. Nearly three in four workers earning the minimum wage or less in 2007 were employed in service occupations, mostly in
food preparation and service jobs. (See table 4.)
-- The industry with the highest proportion of workers with reported hourly wages at or below the Federal minimum wage was leisure and
hospitality (about 12 percent). About three-fifths of all workers paid at or below the Federal minimum wage were employed in this industry,
primarily in the food services and drinking places component. For many of these workers, tips and commissions supplement the hourly
wages received. (See table 5.)
-- Among the States, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas had the highest proportions of hourly-paid workers
earning at or below the Federal minimum wage (at about 4 percent). The percentage of workers earning at or below the Federal minimum
wage was lowest (1 percent or less) in Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. It should be noted that some states have
minimum wage laws establishing standards that exceed the Federal minimum wage. (See table 2 and table 3.)
-- The proportion of hourly-paid workers earning the prevailing Federal minimum wage or less has trended downward since 1979, when data
first began to be collected on a regular basis. (See table 10.)
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2007 [25 March 2008]
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2007.htm
or
http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2007.pdf
[full-text, 13 pages]
According to Current Population Survey estimates for 2007, 75.9 million American workers were paid at hourly rates, representing
58.5 percent of all wage and salary workers.1 On July 24, 2007, the Federal minimum wage increased to $5.85 per hour from $5.15 per hour.
Data in this report reflect the average number of workers earning the prevailing Federal minimum wage or less for the year (those who earned
$5.15 or less from January 2007 through July 2007 and those who earned $5.85 or less from August 2007 through the end of the year).
Among those paid by the hour in 2007, 267,000 were reported as earning exactly the prevailing Federal minimum wage. Nearly 1.5 million
were reported as earning wages below the minimum. 2 Together, these 1.7 million workers with wages at or below the minimum made up 2.3
percent of all hourly-paid workers. Tables 1-10 present data on a wide array of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics for hourlypaid
workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage. The following are some highlights from the 2007 data.
-- Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they
made up almost half of those paid the Federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers paid by the hour, about 7 percent earned
the minimum wage or less, compared with fewer than 2 percent of workers age 25 and over. (See table 1 and table 7.)
-- About 3 percent of women paid hourly rates reported wages at or below the prevailing Federal minimum, compared with about 1 percent of
men. (See table 1.)
-- The percent of workers earning the minimum wage did not vary much across the major race and ethnic groups. About 2 percent of white,
black, Asian, and Hispanic hourly-paid workers earned the Federal minimum wage or less. (See table 1.)
-- Among hourly-paid workers age 16 and over, about 3 percent of those who had less than a high school diploma earned the minimum wage
or less, compared to 2 percent of those who had a high school diploma (with no college) and 1 percent of college graduates. (See table 6.)
-- Never-married workers, who tend to be young, were several times more likely than married workers to earn the minimum wage or less.
(See table 8.)
-- Part-time workers (persons who usually work less than 35 hours per week) were more likely than their full-time counterparts to be paid the
Federal minimum wage or less (about 5 percent versus 1 percent). (See table 1 and table 9.)
-- By major occupational group, the highest proportion of workers earning at or below the Federal minimum wage was in service occupations,
about 7 percent. Nearly three in four workers earning the minimum wage or less in 2007 were employed in service occupations, mostly in
food preparation and service jobs. (See table 4.)
-- The industry with the highest proportion of workers with reported hourly wages at or below the Federal minimum wage was leisure and
hospitality (about 12 percent). About three-fifths of all workers paid at or below the Federal minimum wage were employed in this industry,
primarily in the food services and drinking places component. For many of these workers, tips and commissions supplement the hourly
wages received. (See table 5.)
-- Among the States, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas had the highest proportions of hourly-paid workers
earning at or below the Federal minimum wage (at about 4 percent). The percentage of workers earning at or below the Federal minimum
wage was lowest (1 percent or less) in Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. It should be noted that some states have
minimum wage laws establishing standards that exceed the Federal minimum wage. (See table 2 and table 3.)
-- The proportion of hourly-paid workers earning the prevailing Federal minimum wage or less has trended downward since 1979, when data
first began to be collected on a regular basis. (See table 10.)
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 4:37 PM
