BLS: Percentage of Hourly Workers Earning Minimum Wage or Less in 2013 Falls to 4.3%

    In the midst of the Obama administration's latest push to increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) had released an analysis showing the the percentage of hourly workers earning at or below the minimum wage is down to 4.3%, or 3.3 million workers.  The decrease continues a trend of more than three decades, beginning with a high of 15% back in the early 1980s.  The numbers have occasionally spiked in reaction to economic conditions, most recently in the so-called Great Recession from 2008 to 2010, but then resumed the downward direction.

    Women's gains in this area have been even more dramatic, falling from around 22% in the early 1980s to about 5% in 2013.  The percentage for men during the same time went from about 10% to about 3%.
    The largest segment of the workforce earning minimum wage or below is in food preparation and serving (21.7%) whose wages are often supplemented by tips.  Other industries represented in the survey include service occupations, such as healthcare and protective services (11.3%), and sales and related occupations (6.1%).
    A related report from the BLS includes other facts about minimum wage workers:

• Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they made up about half of those paid the federal minimum wage or less.
• About 5 percent of Black workers, 4 percent of White workers and Hispanic or Latino workers, and 3 percent of Asian workers earned the federal minimum wage or less. 
• Among hourly paid workers age 16 and older, about 10 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) and about 2 percent of college graduates. 

Note: A version of this post first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

Labor Department: 'Faith-Based Argument for Raising the Minimum Wage'

    In his State of the Union address, President Obama proposed raising the minimum wage to $9.00/hour.   In support of this initiative, the White House has blogged about it and published a "fact sheet", as well.  Acting Secretary of Labor Seth Harris has even conducted a "minimum wage tour" to draw attention to the issue.  The latest salvo, however, comes from the director of the Labor Department’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  Phil Tom has written an article on the Department of Labor's official blog entitled "The Faith-Based Argument for Raising the Minimum Wage":

In the faith community, we know and teach that how we treat the weakest among us – those most in need, and who are doing the right thing but still struggling – affects the well-being of us all. My agency, the Labor Department’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, works with leaders of many faiths to ensure that low-wage workers are treated equitably and with dignity. This includes receiving compensation that enables them to afford the basics, like rent, transportation, doctor visits and food...

The religions of the world teach that people should be treated with dignity and equity, and also that we’re all connected. Even those of no particular faith understand that we’re all in this together. Increasing pay for those at the bottom of the pay scale is an investment in workers’ dignity as well as an investment in our communities. 

    Mr. Tom also says that although readers "might even understand if I took a condescending and condemning tone, and blamed the greed of others for the struggles that so many hardworking Americans face," the bottom line is that the minimum wage is "good for the economy."


Note:  This article first appeared at The Weekly Standard.