Young workers are three times as likely to suffer minimum wage violations as other workers

Shares by age group of workers experiencing minimum wage violations

16–24 25–54 55–85
Workers experiencing minimum wage violations 32.7% 51.2% 16.1%
 Total minimum-wage-eligible workforce 14.6% 66.1% 19.3%

Share of each age group experiencing minimum wage violations

Share of workforce demographic experiencing minimum wage violations
16–24 9.2%
25–54 3.2%
55–85 3.4%

Average paid and unpaid weekly wages of workers experiencing minimum wage violations, by age

Average annual wages received by workers experiencing minimum wage violations Average annual lost wages for workers experiencing minimum wage violations
16–24 $173 $50
25–54 $221 $70
55–85 $204 $70

Note: Weekly amount paid represents the average weekly wages received by workers experiencing minimum wage violations. Weekly amount stolen represents the average weekly lost wages for workers experiencing minimum wage violations.

Sample includes workers age 16 to 85 in the ten most populous states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group data, 2013–2015

View the underlying data on epi.org.