Triad Business Daily - How does minimum wage vary by race and gender?

How does minimum wage vary by race and gender?

How does minimum wage vary by race and gender? If you can provide some statistics or a chart that would be great! Basically I am doing a paper for my sociology class and I am writing a paper on minimum wage. I am looking for statistics on minimum wage by race and gender. And just some information on how minimum wage affects people by race and gender.

Public Comments

Ouch. Minimum wage is determined by state. It's illegal to pay someone below the mandated wage. You could do your paper on wages, typically white men make more money than women and minorities.
It doesn't but it does by age I Live in Washington State...Seattle excerpts from link: As of October 2008[update], Washington has the highest minimum wages of all 50 states, with California, Massachusetts and Oregon close behind. Employees aged 14 or 15 may be paid 85% of the minimum wage, which for 2008 is $6.86 per hour. Increases annually based on inflation per the Revised Code of Washington Sec. 49.46.020. Will rise to $8.55 per hour on Jan. 1, 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._minimum_wages Washington State minimum wage is now $8.07 and will increase to $8.55 And... the dollar menu is still a dollar
If you're talking about the government regulated "Minimum Wage", then no, it will not vary by race or gender (no matter what state the worker is in). However, if you are asking if the average minimum wage earnings of certain demographics, particularly what the average minimum wage of a woman vs a man or an African American vs a Caucasian, then yes, these will certainly vary.
There are reports put out by the Bureau of Labor statistics that address your question. The title is "Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers". It will address race, age, married vs. single, education level, etc. It will also post data by states. I think the most current report is dated Feb. 28 of 2007. Good luck with the paper. Great topic.