The minimum wage is falling short for millions of Americans — especially for women, who represent nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers across the country, and at least half of minimum wage workers in every state. Today, the federal minimum wage is just $7.25 per hour, and full-time earnings of $14,500 a year leave a family of three thousands of dollars below the federal poverty line. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia currently have minimum wages above the federal level, but in every state, the minimum wage leaves a full-time worker with two children at or below the poverty level.
Click on a state below to see its minimum wage and tipped minimum wage, plus:
- The share of minimum wage workers who are women
- The next scheduled increase in the minimum wage
- Any recent action on the minimum wage in the state legislature
Click here to see the aggregated nationwide data.
Women are also a large majority of tipped workers, such as restaurant servers. In most states, employers can count a portion of tips toward wages (known as a “tip credit”) and pay their tipped employees a minimum cash wage that is lower than the regular minimum wage. The federal minimum cash wage for tipped workers has been frozen for more than 20 years at $2.13 per hour — just $4,260 a year for full-time work, providing little reliable income when fluctuating tips make it difficult to cover regular expenses like rent and groceries. Tipped workers receive more stable base pay in the seven states that do not allow a tip credit, but most states have established tipped minimum wages below $5.00 per hour (including 19 states that follow the federal standard). Nationwide, the poverty rate for tipped workers is more than twice as high as the rate for the workforce as a whole.
This year has brought notable progress on the minimum wage at the state level: New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and California passed minimum wage increases that will begin to take effect in 2014, and a measure on New Jersey’s ballot in November will allow voters to decide whether the state minimum wage will rise. These measures are important steps forward, but raising the federal minimum wage, including the minimum wage for tipped workers — as proposed by the Fair Minimum Wage Act — is essential to help millions of workers across the country support themselves and their families. And because women are the majority of workers who would get a raise, increasing the minimum wage would also help close the wage gap.
Sources:
Share of minimum wage workers who are women: NWLC calculations based on unpublished U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics data for all wage and salary workers. Figures are annual averages for 2012. Available data do not permit a precise calculation of the percentage of women making the state minimum wage in all states due to the increments by which wages are reported. Estimates are based on the share of workers who are women at or below the reported wage levels immediately above and below the relevant state’s minimum wage. “Minimum wage workers” refers to workers making the minimum wage or less.
Minimum wages: U.S. Department of Labor, Minimum Wage Laws in the States, January 1, 2013.
Tipped minimum wages: U.S. Department of Labor, Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees, January 1, 2013.
Note:
"2013 legislative action" refers to legislative activity beyond introduction of a minimum wage bill.