Nearly one-third of workers experiencing minimum wage violations receive some form of public assistance: Public assistance usage among minimum-wage-eligible workers and those experiencing minimum wage violations
| Category | Minimum-wage-eligible workers | Eligible workers experiencing minimum wage violations | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Share receiving public assistance benefit | Number | Share receiving public assistance benefit | |
| All minimum-wage-eligible workers | 59,014,000 | 2,422,000 | ||
| Family receives some public assistance | 13,517,000 | 22.9% | 802,000 | 33.1% |
| Family receives food-purchasing assistance | 4,282,000 | 7.3% | 429,000 | 17.7% |
| Family receives energy assistance | 771,000 | 1.3% | 81,000 | 3.4% |
| Child in family receives reduced or free school lunch | 10,373,000 | 17.6% | 496,000 | 20.5% |
| Family receives housing subsidy | 838,000 | 1.4% | 95,000 | 3.9% |
Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding. Shares are computed based on unrounded numbers.
Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group and March Supplement data, 2013–2016