Who are minimum-wage workers?
Fifty-nine percent of all wage and salary workers — or 75.3 million people — are paid hourly rates in the U.S., according to 2012 figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of these people, 3.6 million earn exactly $7.25 per hour or less. Women are the most affected by low wages, as 6 percent of female workers who are paid by the hour earn the minimum wage or less compared with 3 percent of men. Additionally, the largest age group of hourly workers in 2012 was the 25-34 age bracket, followed by the 45-54 bracket.