Minimum Wage is not a Living Wage
CEO pay and corporate profits come first
It’s been holiday vacation time for most US schools and millions of children were home for two weeks. How did parents who do not make a living wage manage this? Most do not have paid leave and the costs of childcare are out of their reach.
About a third of the US workforce makes less than $15 an hour, including nearly two million who make the minimum wage of $7.25 or less. The majority of those who make the minimum wage are employed preparing and serving food. They may also work in sales or retail, in personal care, or health services, in farming, fishing or forestry, or in construction or maintenance.
Federal law exempts employers from paying a minimum wage to tipped employees as long as their hourly wage of $2.13 plus tips adds up to the minimum wage. The law also exempts seasonal farm workers, workers with disabilities, full-time students, those under 20, and student-learners. In addition, 29% of short-term and contract workers, gig workers, make less than the minimum wage.
These low waged workers are disproportionally women and people of color. According to OXFAM:
- 40% of working women make less than $15 an hour (compared to 25% of men)
- 50% of women of color make less than $15 an hour
