General Discussion

https://www.statista.com/topics/5920/minimum-wage-in-the-united-states/#topicOverview

The number of wage and salary workers in the United States being paid the federal minimum has decreased significantly in the last fifty years, due in part to individual states accommodating the demand for higher hourly pay. In 1979, nearly four million workers were earning hourly rates at the federal minimum. In comparison, the total number of workers paid the federal minimum wage in 2021 was 181,000. Despite the minimum wage remaining relatively low over the last years, there were still around 910,000 thousand workers in the U.S. who received hourly wages below the federal minimum wage in the same year. Minimum wage violation cases in 2022 saw an increase from the previous year, with a total of 7,948 cases reported due to employers failing to pay a fair minimum wage.

About 484,000 workers between the ages of 16 and 24 years old were earning hourly rates at the federal minimum wage or less in 2021, making up the majority of workers paid at this rate. Comparatively, there were approximately 117,000 workers aged between 35 and 44 earning the same hourly rates. In the same year, the number of women being paid below the federal minimum wage was nearly twice that of men. The share of employees earning hourly wages at or below the minimum can also vary greatly depending on their level of education. For example, there were around 376,000 wage and salary workers in the U.S. who graduated high school but did not attend college that were being paid hourly rates at or below minimum wage. Those who had attended some college but had not attained a degree also made up a considerable amount of the U.S. workforce paid rates at or below the minimum wage.

In 2021, there were approximately 77,000 workers in the education and health services industry making an hourly wage at or below minimum wage. However, the majority were found among the leisure and hospitality industry, with 715,000 workers in the industry earning hourly rate at or below the minimum wage that year, with the majority working in food preparation and serving related jobs. As workers earning the minimum have struggled to cover their basic expenses, many in the service industry have continued to grow increasingly reliant on tips to supplement their income. This has led to an increase in tipping rates, and has prompted many service establishments to automatically add a gratuity onto the price of the service provided. In 2023, around 57 percent of Americans tipped between five and 25 percent of the price of a service. The shift in tipping culture in the U.S. has been met with mixed emotions by the public, with around 31 percent of people reporting having felt pressured to tip, compared to 29 percent having felt excited about tipping. Despite the range of emotions, around 76 percent of Americans reported tipping often or always in 2023.

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Number of wage and salary workers in the United States paid hourly rates below the prevailing Federal minimum wage from 1979 to 2023 (in 1,000s)

https://www.statista.com/statistics/188196/wage-and-salary-workers-paid-below-minimum-wage-since-1979/