America's Most Poorly Paid Workers

http://viableopposition.blogspot.ca/2016/04/americas-most-poorly-paid-workers.html

With the recent news that California was nearly set to phase in a statewide $15-per-hour minimum wage over the next five years, I thought that it was a good time to take a look at a study by the National Employment Law Project (NELP) that looks at which Americans are earning less than the proposed $15 per hour minimum wage that has become the rallying cry for underpaid workers.  Here are some of the interesting highlights from the first part of the report which takes a statistical look at America's most modestly paid workers.

For the purposes of the study, the authors have used data from the Current Population Survey and the Occupational Employment Statistics survey which provides information on wages (both hourly and salaries), hours and earnings for all workers in the United States.  The authors note that a worker who is paid $15 an hour is equivalent to a worker who is paid an annual salary of $31,200.  Here are some surprising and not-so-surprising statistics: