Demographic characteristics of women workers affected by increasing the federal minimum wage by $15 by 2024

Group Total estimated workforce (thousands) Directly affected (thousands) Share directly affected Indirectly affected (thousands) Share indirectly affected Total affected (thousands) Share of group who are affected Group’s share of total affected
All women workers 72,465 16,478 22.7% 6,479 8.9% 22,957 31.7% 100.0%
Age
Age 19 or younger 2,710 1,770 65.3% 166 6.1% 1,936 71.4% 8.4%
Age 20 or older 69,754 14,708 21.1% 6,313 9.1% 21,021 30.1% 91.6%
Ages 16–24 10,171 5,659 55.6% 997 9.8% 6,655 65.4% 29.0%
Ages 25–39 23,678 5,014 21.2% 2,282 9.6% 7,297 30.8% 31.8%
Ages 40–54 23,162 3,277 14.1% 1,884 8.1% 5,161 22.3% 22.5%
Age 55 or older 15,454 2,528 16.4% 1,316 8.5% 3,843 24.9% 16.7%
Race/ethnicity
White 43,437 8,686 20.0% 3,925 9.0% 12,611 29.0% 54.9%
Black 9,658 3,043 31.5% 918 9.5% 3,961 41.0% 17.3%
Hispanic 12,599 3,664 29.1% 1,137 9.0% 4,801 38.1% 20.9%
Asian 4,710 552 11.7% 312 6.6% 864 18.3% 3.8%
Other race/ethnicity 2,060 533 25.9% 187 9.1% 720 35.0% 3.1%
Women of color 29,027 7,792 26.8% 2,554 8.8% 10,346 35.6% 26.1%
Family status
Married parent 16,375 2,440 14.9% 1,269 7.8% 3,709 22.7% 16.2%
Single parent 9,565 3,053 31.9% 1,063 11.1% 4,116 43.0% 17.9%
Married, no children 18,223 2,593 14.2% 1,505 8.3% 4,098 22.5% 17.9%
Unmarried, no children 28,302 8,392 29.7% 2,641 9.3% 11,033 39.0% 48.1%
Education
Less than high school 5,858 3,026 51.7% 545 9.3% 3,571 61.0% 15.6%
High school 16,211 5,962 36.8% 2,249 13.9% 8,211 50.7% 35.8%
Some college, no degree 17,487 5,352 30.6% 2,068 11.8% 7,420 42.4% 32.3%
Associate degree 7,542 1,242 16.5% 749 9.9% 1,991 26.4% 8.7%
Bachelor’s degree or higher 25,366 896 3.5% 869 3.4% 1,764 7.0% 7.7%
Family income
Less than $25,000 10,654 5,959 55.9% 1,266 11.9% 7,225 67.8% 31.5%
$25,000–$49,999 15,084 4,129 27.4% 2,053 13.6% 6,181 41.0% 26.9%
$50,000–$74,999 13,315 2,669 20.0% 1,315 9.9% 3,984 29.9% 17.4%
$75,000–$99,999 10,366 1,533 14.8% 812 7.8% 2,345 22.6% 10.2%
$100,000–$149,999 12,573 1,418 11.3% 681 5.4% 2,099 16.7% 9.1%
$150,000 or more 10,472 770 7.4% 352 3.4% 1,122 10.7% 4.9%
Family income-to-poverty ratio
At or below the poverty line 5,827 3,602 61.8% 534 9.2% 4,136 71.0% 18.0%
101–200% of poverty line 10,896 4,874 44.7% 1,663 15.3% 6,537 60.0% 28.5%
201–400% of poverty line 22,579 4,916 21.8% 2,695 11.9% 7,611 33.7% 33.2%
401% or above 32,602 2,749 8.4% 1,555 4.8% 4,304 13.2% 18.7%
Poverty status not available 560 336 59.9% 33 5.9% 369 65.8% 1.6%
Work hours
Part time (<20 hours) 5,570 2,160 38.8% 538 9.7% 2,698 48.4% 11.8%
Mid time (20– 34 hours) 14,090 5,837 41.4% 1,553 11.0% 7,390 52.4% 32.2%
Full time (35+ hours) 52,805 8,480 16.1% 4,389 8.3% 12,869 24.4% 56.1%
Industry
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting 496 120 24.2% 39 7.8% 159 31.9% 0.7%
Construction 811 103 12.7% 62 7.6% 165 20.3% 0.7%
Manufacturing 4,806 968 20.1% 466 9.7% 1,434 29.8% 6.2%
Wholesale trade 1,235 212 17.2% 101 8.2% 313 25.3% 1.4%
Retail trade 8,726 3,660 41.9% 969 11.1% 4,630 53.1% 20.2%
Transportation, warehousing, utilities 1,961 272 13.9% 161 8.2% 433 22.1% 1.9%
Information 1,327 152 11.5% 79 5.9% 231 17.4% 1.0%
Finance, insurance, real estate 5,338 445 8.3% 316 5.9% 760 14.2% 3.3%
Professional, scientific, management, technical services 4,176 270 6.5% 175 4.2% 445 10.7% 1.9%
Administrative, support, and waste management 2,377 757 31.9% 238 10.0% 995 41.9% 4.3%
Education 10,030 1,231 12.3% 564 5.6% 1,796 17.9% 7.8%
Health care 16,929 3,373 19.9% 1,375 8.1% 4,748 28.0% 20.7%
Arts, entertainment, recreational services 1,413 498 35.2% 184 13.0% 682 48.3% 3.0%
Accommodation 1,041 482 46.3% 131 12.6% 613 58.9% 2.7%
Restaurants and food service 5,356 2,802 52.3% 932 17.4% 3,733 69.7% 16.3%
Other services 3,054 931 30.5% 537 17.6% 1,469 48.1% 6.4%
Public administration 3,390 200 5.9% 151 4.5% 352 10.4% 1.5%
Tipped occupations
Tipped workers 2,967 1,291 43.5% 1,178 39.7% 2,469 83.2% 10.8%
Nontipped workers 69,497 15,186 21.9% 5,301 7.6% 20,487 29.5% 89.2%
Sector
For-profit 51,183 13,863 27.1% 5,217 10.2% 19,080 37.3% 83.1%
Government 12,716 1,360 10.7% 690 5.4% 2,051 16.1% 8.9%
Nonprofit 8,565 1,254 14.6% 571 6.7% 1,826 21.3% 8.0%

Notes: Values reflect the population likely to be affected by the proposed change in the federal minimum wage. Wage changes resulting from scheduled state and local minimum wage laws are accounted for by EPI’s Minimum Wage Simulation Model. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Shares calculated from unrounded values. Directly affected workers will see their wages rise as the new minimum wage rate will exceed their current hourly pay. Indirectly affected workers have a wage rate just above the new minimum wage (between the new minimum wage and 115 percent of the new minimum). They will receive a raise as employer pay scales are adjusted upward to reflect the new minimum wage.

Source: Economic Policy Institute Minimum Wage Simulation Model using data from the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Congressional Budget Office. See Cooper, Mokhiber, and Zipperer 2019. Dollar values adjusted by projections for CPI-U in CBO 2018.

View the underlying data on epi.org.