The real value of a $15 minimum wage depends on where you live
Although most Americans back a higher minimum wage, wide disparities in local living costs make finding an appropriate rate difficult.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Although most Americans back a higher minimum wage, wide disparities in local living costs make finding an appropriate rate difficult.
Despite some ups and downs over the past several decades, today’s real average wage in the U.S. has about the same purchasing power it did 40 years ago. And most of what wage gains there have been have flowed to the highest-paid tier of workers.
While the idea of raising the minimum wage is broadly popular, efforts to do so at the national level have stalled. We gathered key facts looking at the issue.
The cost of living can vary widely not just from state to state but within individual states, which can make setting an appropriate minimum wage more difficult.
Just what is “economic inequality”? Depends on whom you ask.
Last year an estimated 20.6 million people — 30% of all hourly, non-self-employed workers aged 18 and older in the U.S. — earned above the applicable minimum wage in their state but less than the proposed $10.10/hour minimum.
The restaurant and food service industry is the single biggest employer of near-minimum workers, employing 3.75 million near-minimum workers, about 18% of the total.
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