Characteristics of workers in New York state who would benefit from increasing the state minimum wage to $15 by July 2021
| Directly affected | Indirectly affected | Total affected | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Estimated workforce | Count | Share of category | Count | Share of category | Count | Share of category | Share of the total affected population |
| Total | 8,635,791 | 2,415,033 | 28.0% | 747,313 | 8.7% | 3,162,345 | 36.6% | 100.0% |
| Sex | ||||||||
| Female | 4,268,056 | 1,278,035 | 29.9% | 387,560 | 9.1% | 1,665,595 | 39.0% | 52.7% |
| Male | 4,367,735 | 1,136,998 | 26.0% | 359,753 | 8.2% | 1,496,751 | 34.3% | 47.3% |
| Age | ||||||||
| 20 or older | 8,402,019 | 2,264,580 | 27.0% | 732,900 | 8.7% | 2,997,480 | 35.7% | 94.8% |
| Under 20 | 233,772 | 150,453 | 64.4% | 14,412 | 6.2% | 164,865 | 70.5% | 5.2% |
| Less than 25 | 1,069,485 | 648,505 | 60.6% | 105,085 | 9.8% | 753,591 | 70.5% | 23.8% |
| 25 to 39 | 2,984,891 | 827,905 | 27.7% | 287,402 | 9.6% | 1,115,306 | 37.4% | 35.3% |
| 40 to 54 | 2,835,217 | 584,145 | 20.6% | 211,398 | 7.5% | 795,543 | 28.1% | 25.2% |
| 55 or older | 1,746,198 | 354,478 | 20.3% | 143,428 | 8.2% | 497,906 | 28.5% | 15.7% |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||
| White, non-Hispanic | 5,023,160 | 1,126,965 | 22.4% | 426,737 | 8.5% | 1,553,703 | 30.9% | 49.1% |
| Black or African American | 1,184,952 | 361,324 | 30.5% | 118,968 | 10.0% | 480,292 | 40.5% | 15.2% |
| Hispanic of any race | 1,501,730 | 644,468 | 42.9% | 132,766 | 8.8% | 777,234 | 51.8% | 24.6% |
| Asian | 752,837 | 230,304 | 30.6% | 51,954 | 6.9% | 282,258 | 37.5% | 8.9% |
| Other race or ethnicity | 173,111 | 51,971 | 30.0% | 16,888 | 9.8% | 68,859 | 39.8% | 2.2% |
| Education | ||||||||
| Less than high school | 753,983 | 430,558 | 57.1% | 74,272 | 9.9% | 504,830 | 67.0% | 16.0% |
| High school | 1,975,848 | 782,436 | 39.6% | 222,220 | 11.2% | 1,004,656 | 50.8% | 31.8% |
| Some college | 1,606,820 | 562,155 | 35.0% | 165,140 | 10.3% | 727,296 | 45.3% | 23.0% |
| Associate degree | 841,381 | 207,593 | 24.7% | 90,580 | 10.8% | 298,173 | 35.4% | 9.4% |
| Bachelor’s or higher | 3,457,760 | 432,290 | 12.5% | 195,101 | 5.6% | 627,391 | 18.1% | 19.8% |
| Family status | ||||||||
| Married parent | 2,596,552 | 509,064 | 19.6% | 185,621 | 7.1% | 694,685 | 26.8% | 22.0% |
| Single parent | 786,983 | 269,186 | 34.2% | 77,959 | 9.9% | 347,145 | 44.1% | 11.0% |
| Married, no children | 1,563,703 | 306,502 | 19.6% | 128,370 | 8.2% | 434,872 | 27.8% | 13.8% |
| Single, no children | 3,688,553 | 1,330,281 | 36.1% | 355,363 | 9.6% | 1,685,643 | 45.7% | 53.3% |
| Household income (2014$) | ||||||||
| Less than $50,000 | 1,960,544 | 1,099,231 | 56.1% | 247,450 | 12.6% | 1,346,682 | 68.7% | 42.6% |
| $50,000–$74,999 | 1,478,556 | 447,849 | 30.3% | 181,269 | 12.3% | 629,118 | 42.5% | 19.9% |
| $75,000–$99,999 | 1,304,905 | 290,003 | 22.2% | 117,689 | 9.0% | 407,692 | 31.2% | 12.9% |
| $100,000–$149,999 | 1,863,931 | 309,846 | 16.6% | 118,244 | 6.3% | 428,090 | 23.0% | 13.5% |
| $150,000 or more | 2,027,855 | 268,102 | 13.2% | 82,661 | 4.1% | 350,763 | 17.3% | 11.1% |
| Work hours | ||||||||
| Part time (<20 hours/week) | 493,157 | 227,255 | 46.1% | 38,397 | 7.8% | 265,652 | 53.9% | 8.4% |
| Mid time (20–34 hours/week) | 1,212,340 | 657,919 | 54.3% | 122,311 | 10.1% | 780,229 | 64.4% | 24.7% |
| Full time (35+ hours/week) | 6,930,295 | 1,529,859 | 22.1% | 586,605 | 8.5% | 2,116,463 | 30.5% | 66.9% |
| Sector | ||||||||
| Federal government | 153,455 | – | 0.0% | – | 0.0% | – | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Private, for profit | 6,259,722 | 2,046,414 | 32.7% | 573,340 | 9.2% | 2,619,754 | 41.9% | 82.8% |
| Local government | 854,552 | 109,633 | 12.8% | 62,429 | 7.3% | 172,063 | 20.1% | 5.4% |
| Private, nonprofit | 965,637 | 216,150 | 22.4% | 86,388 | 8.9% | 302,538 | 31.3% | 9.6% |
| State government | 402,426 | 42,835 | 10.6% | 25,156 | 6.3% | 67,990 | 16.9% | 2.2% |
| Family income-to-poverty-line status | ||||||||
| At or below the poverty line | 494,207 | 348,804 | 70.6% | 23,933 | 4.8% | 372,737 | 75.4% | 11.8% |
| 101–150% poverty | 487,189 | 350,187 | 71.9% | 48,939 | 10.0% | 399,126 | 81.9% | 12.6% |
| 151–200% poverty | 535,099 | 325,084 | 60.8% | 75,348 | 14.1% | 400,432 | 74.8% | 12.7% |
| 201–300% poverty | 1,200,327 | 516,935 | 43.1% | 187,612 | 15.6% | 704,546 | 58.7% | 22.3% |
| 301% poverty or more | 5,856,688 | 844,672 | 14.4% | 408,118 | 7.0% | 1,252,790 | 21.4% | 39.6% |
| Missing poverty status | 62,282 | 29,352 | 47.1% | 3,363 | 5.4% | 32,715 | 52.5% | 1.0% |
| Total est. # of children | Child has directly affected parent | Child has indirectly affected parent | Total children with affected parents | % of all children | ||||
| Children with at least one affected parent | 3,880,975 | 1,015,144 | 317,912 | 1,333,056 | 34.3% | |||
Source: EPI analysis of American Community Survey microdata, 2014