Race/ethnicity
Increasing the minimum wage would substantially benefit both minority and nonminority workers. Figure G reveals that nationally, 54.1 percent of workers who would be affected are non-Hispanic white workers. Nearly a quarter (24.6 percent) are Hispanic, 14.1 percent are black, and 7.1 percent are Asian or of another race or ethnicity.
As one would expect given the country’s diverse social and cultural makeup, the racial and ethnic composition of workers affected by increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 varies considerably by state: * The Asian or other race/ethnicity composition ranges from 1.7 percent in West Virginia to 75.9 percent in Hawaii. * The black composition ranges from less than 1 percent in Idaho, Montana, and New Hampshire to 46.5 percent in Mississippi (and 57.1 percent in the District of Columbia). * The Hispanic composition ranges from 0.9 percent in West Virginia to 58.6 percent in California. * The white composition ranges from 10.7 percent in Hawaii to 93.5 percent in Maine.
Who would be benefit from Minimum Wage Act? * More than 30 million workers would receive a raise from the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013. * 88% are adults over the age of twenty, 56% are women, nearly half are workers of color, and over 43% have some college education. * More than 17 million children have a parent who would get a raise under the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013. * The average affected worker brought home approximately 49% of her household’s income in 2011. * 71% of tipped workers getting raises would be women – a key step for women’s pay equity.
Debate
The last increase hit in July 2009 just after the recession ended, and as the nearby chart shows, the jobless rate jumped for teens and black teens especially. For black teens, the rate has remained close to 40% and was still 37.8% in January.