Here in the US there was recently an attempt to raise the minimum wage. I do not wish a debate on the subject; I’d just like to know if anyone is still earning only the minimum. I know there are certain exclusions (waitstaff, agricultural…) but in my neighbourhood even burger flippers are well in excess.
im not sure who gets minimum wage, but when minimum wage goes up, my pay increases accordingly.
There are no exclusions to minimum wage in the US. However, there are different minimum wage rates depending upon some industries such as agriculture and server staff. Then again, depending upon a number of factors, if the minimum wage for a selected industry is below the “standard” minimum wage that you are referring, and the employee does not make up the difference in tips, the employer is required to make up the difference so that the base rate is at least equal to the “standard” minimum wage.
I’m sure you will find where job competition is not strong, employers will be paying the minimum wage.
I got minimum wage when I was a teen, working as a clerk in a drugstore in suburban Boston in the late '80s. Wasn’t an exceptionally tight job market or cushy position, just a very traditional boss and a bunch of teens who were interested in, but not desperate for, a part-time job. As far as I know, he was still starting new employees at minimum wage ten years later.
Don’t forget that unless a state has its own minimum wage law, then the federal law only applies to certain, interstate-related businesses. Lots of states, though, just mirror the federal law.
I’m sure the have lots of people making minimum wage or less. That’s one of the big advantages of immigrants. It’s great money to send back home for them, and its cheap labor for us. (I’m not trying to inspire a debate; whether it’s right or wrong is another matter; this is how it is).
Work-study people do, or at least I do.
Um, if you’re talking about the federal Work-Study program, this is illegal. According to the IFAP (federal regs about financial aid),
“FWS [Federal Work-Study] employers must pay students at least the federal minimum
wage in effect at the time of employment ($5.15 as of September
1997). The Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 established a
Volume 6 — Campus-Based Programs, 2004-2005
subminimum, or training, wage that is lower than the minimum wage.
However, it is not permissible to pay the subminimum wage rate to
students in FWS jobs.”
However, if you’re talking about some sort of school-based work-study where they use their own funds, I suppose that would be a different scenario.
Also, as the cite above notes, there is an allowance for businesses to pay a “training wage” that is below the federal minimum wage. This was common practice at my first job in a grocery store.
The 2002 Bureau of Labor Statistics “Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers”
Please note that BLS made some changes in sampling and sample adjustment in 2003 based on analysis of the 2000 census data which may cause the data to change for subsequent years, though they have no intention of attempting to revise prior data. Additionally, the survey counts who received the federal minimum wage (or less); as many states have a higher minimum wage, the number and portion of people who receive their home state’s minimum wage will doubtless be much higher.
The minimum-wage job is alive and well in the economically depressed areas of the country. There’s plenty of them here in my town. Want one?
I pay new, unexperienced receptionists minimum wage. If they do well they get a raise after their six weeks of training. If they suck, they never get a raise unless the minimum wage increases. It is hoped that this will pressure them into either improving their performance or gracefully retiring. 
I got minimum wage until last year, as a graduate assistant (during those two years tuition assistance was cancelled, so there were no compensatory benefits, either.) I did basically the same job that I’m about to do for 17.21/hr (albeit part-time); the difference is the degree. Trust me, minimum wage sucks; I pretty much had to take a job like that for the resume and experience, but even a buck an hour more would have made a huge difference to me.
I don’t think it’s illegal. I get exactly the minimum wage: 5.15/hr. No less.
Sorry :o In my cold-addled brain I mis-read your response as saying you were paid below minimum wage. My mistake.
I was paid minimum at my last job (retail) and I know the company still pays minimum even though the local fast-food places hire for more. They did offer good benefits, however, so paying minimum gets them the housewives and other mature employees and not teens applying as often.
Sure, the paycheck hurt, but I needed the benefits so I stayed there three years until securing a “real” job with benefits.
re: Financial aid work-study. If you’ve got a federal work-study job, you must be paid at least federal minimum wage. You do not, however, need to be paid state minimum wage if that is higher. (For my w/s job, I’m in-between the federal and the state.)
And at least where I grew up, the vast majority of summer jobs for teens paid minimum, maybe ten, fifteen cents over. Go to any shopping mall in the summer, and you’ll find plenty of wage-slaves like that.
I get minimum wage! FWIW, I’m a hotel desk clerk at a small hotel. The work isn’t really worth more (I basically read library books all day and see a handful of customers).
I also got minimum wage when I did workstudy.
So, according to ** manhattan’s** link and my own experience, it seems like the majority of minimum wage earners are either young (53%) and/or part-time (60%).
And… on top of that, only 3% of hourly wage earners make at or below minimum anyway.
Like I’ve said before… if you’re not a high school or college student, you have to be a truly worthless mofo to make minimum for any appreciable period of time.
Hell, I used to make well more than minimum working as a bus-boy, for God’s sake!
My husband made exactly the minimum wage for nearly five years with no benefits. He worked full time as a night auditor at hotels in the town where I went to college. He had a college degree. He would balance their accounts each night as well as work as a front desk clerk. He is not and was not a worthless mofo.
Just before I graduated, he got aapplied for and got a job in the Chicagoland area in the area his degree was in, which paid better than the minimum wage.
I can’t believe that for five years, the only option open to him was a job paying minimum wage, especially if he had some kind of degree. That’s just ridiculous, especially in a college town.
Um. As my caveat stated, only 3% of hourly wage earners make at or below the federal minimum wage. Among populous states, Californa, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts all have state minimum wages above the federal minimum. So the population which makes the locally-mandated minimum wage can be expected to be higher.