Unmarried workers—with and without kids—are more likely to experience minimum wage violations than married workers

Shares by family type of workers experiencing minimum wage violations

Married parent Single parent Married, no kids Unmarried, no kids
Workers experiencing minimum wage violations 17.2% 9.2% 18.6% 55.0%
Total minimum-wage-eligible workforce 25.7% 8.0% 25.8% 40.5%

Share of each family type experiencing minimum wage violations

Share of workforce demographic experiencing minimum wage violations
Married parent 2.8%
Single parent 4.7%
Married, no kids 3.0%
Unmarried, no kids 5.6%

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

Average weekly wages received by workers experiencing minimum wage violations Average weekly lost wages for workers experiencing minimum wage violations
Married parent $229  $70
Single parent $204  $69
Married, no kids $219  $71
Unmarried, no kids $189  $58

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.