---
title: "More women than men earn the federal minimum wage"
description: "Substantially more women than men are in jobs that pay the minimum wage of less, , according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data analyzed by the Pew Research Center. "
date: "2014-05-05"
authors:
  - name: "Jens Manuel Krogstad"
    job_title: "Former Senior Writer and Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/jens-manuel-krogstad/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/05/05/more-women-than-men-earn-the-federal-minimum-wage/"
categories:
  - "Economic Policy"
  - "Economy & Work"
  - "Gender"
  - "Gender & LGBTQ"
  - "Gender Equality & Discrimination"
---

# More women than men earn the federal minimum wage

Substantially more women than men are in jobs that pay the minimum wage or less, according to [U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics](http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2013.pdf) data analyzed by the Pew Research Center. Men make up a larger share of the U.S. labor force than women (53%-47%). But among those who earn the minimum wage or less, 62% are women and 38% are men.

[![More women than men have jobs paying them minimum wage or less](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2014/05/FT_Minimum_Gap.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/05/FT_Minimum_Gap.png)

Congress is debating a hike to the federal minimum wage (currently $7.25 per hour), an idea that has [strong support](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/03/04/polls-show-strong-support-for-minimum-wage-hike/) among the American public. Last week, a bill [backed by the White House](http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/final_min_wage_slides_-_no_embargo.pdf) that would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 [failed to advance in the Senate](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/04/30/senate-minimum-wage-filibuster/8509441/). (Meanwhile, [21 states](http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm) and some cities have a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum.)

In 2012, women’s hourly wages were 84% those of men – meaning that women earned about 84 cents for every $1 made by men, a [gender pay gap](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/04/08/on-equal-pay-day-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-gender-pay-gap/) of 16 cents, according to a [Pew Research Center report](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2013/12/11/on-pay-gap-millennial-women-near-parity-for-now/).

Among those paid by the hour, some 5.4% of women (2.1 million workers) made the federal minimum wage or less in 2013. For men, that share is 3.3%, or 1.2 million workers. (Some people may be paid below the federal minimum wage, [including those who make tips](http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/q-a.htm).) The difference has narrowed since 1979, when the share of hourly workers who earned federal minimum wage or less was 20.2% for women and 7.7% for men.

The biggest gap is between young women and young men. Among hourly workers ages 20 to 24, some 10.0% of women made the federal minimum wage or less in 2013, compared with 5.8% of men. By comparison, the gender gap narrows for older workers. Among hourly workers ages 30 to 34, some 4.0% of women made the federal minimum wage or less, compared with 2.7% of men. Among workers ages 60 to 64, women and men are about equally likely to work at the federal minimum wage—1.5% of women did in 2013, compared with 1.2% of men.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfD7C49v5Vg&feature=youtu.be