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Originally Posted by signupdamnit
You don't seem like the bullshitter type so I'm going to assume that the Fox News style propaganda and the Koch machine got you here. Sure. Maybe only 1.1% of people earn EXACTLY minimum wage. But probably close to 25% make under $10. In fact in fast food the median wage is below $10. Using that 1.1% statistic is almost dishonest then since it obviously doesn't include people making one penny more.
That it isn't a career (and sadly for many it does become a career of sorts) is just another excuse used to keep the wages low for them so the owners can keep more of the profit. The fact is many years ago many of these jobs were considered middle class and somewhat respectable. But the perception has been changed over time in order to justify paying them less. But the whole notion of insulting someone who works and does their job is just ridiculous and pretentious in the first place.
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Here is what I found from the Bureau of Labor:
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In 2012, there were 3.6 million hourly paid workers in the United States with wages at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. These workers made up 4.7 percent of the 75.3 million workers age 16 and over who were paid at hourly rates. In 2012, 6 percent of women who were paid hourly rates had wages at or below the prevailing federal minimum, compared with about 3 percent of men.
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When you look at the chart it shows 40%+ of those workers are age 16-19. Interestingly enough the total was around 3% in 2008 so it looks like it is on the rise. Part of this could be that there is currently a boom of kids getting into that 15-20 year old range.