Over the past 46 years, as lawmakers have failed to adequately raise the federal minimum wage, the gap between wages of the average U.S. worker and the lowest-paid worker has grown substantially. In fact, the declining inflation-adjusted value of the minimum wage is the main cause of growth in wage inequality between low-wage workers and middle-wage workers since 1979, particularly among women.

The figure below shows the value of the minimum wage as a percentage of the average hourly wage of nonsupervisory production workers—a category that comprises 80 percent of all workers in the United States, and excludes highly-paid managers and executives. As shown in the figure, at its high point in the late 1960s, the minimum wage was equal to 53 percent of the average wage. Yet after 46 years of infrequent or inadequate increases, today’s minimum wage is equal to only 35 percent of the average production worker’s wage—not far from its lowest point on record.