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MINIMUM WAGE: LGBT FACT SHEET

April 2014
Raising the minimum wage is an important civil and human rights issue, not only because it would lift nearly a million Americans out of poverty, but because LGBT people, women, and people of color make up a disproportionate number of minimum wage workers who will see more money in their pockets and therefore increased economic security as a result of the law. Could you live on $15,080 a year? Thats how much a full-time, minimum wage worker earns in a year, assuming their health, their family needs, or the weather doesnt make them miss work. Its also $4,000 below the poverty line established by the U.S. government for a family of three. A failed procedural vote in the U.S. Senate blocked the Fair Minimum Wage Act (S. 460) from moving forward. The bill would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour by 2015. The bill would also adjust the minimum wage each year as the cost of living increases, and eventually raise the wage for tipped workerswhich has been frozen at $2.13 per hour for over 20 yearsto 70% of the federal minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage is an LGBT issue Though we have little data about the actual number of LGBT minimum wage workers, we know a significant percentage of LGBT people are minimum wage workers, likely disproportionately so, given what is known about rates of poverty among LGBT people. LGBT people are more likely than other people to be living in poverty. Transgender people are 4 times more likely to be living in extreme poverty (under $10,000 per year) than the general population. Many trans people would benefit greatly from an increase in minimum wage. LGBT adults who are raising children are 3 times as likely to live at or near the poverty line than nonLGBT adults who are raising children. Lesbian and bisexual women in same-sex couples are twice as likely to be food stamp recipients as opposite-sex couples. Women make up nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers. One of every five children living in a same-sex couple family is living in poverty, compared to one in every ten children in different-sex married couple families. People of color represent 42% of minimum wage earners, yet make up only 32% of the total workforce. Raising the minimum wage would make a significant difference to LGBT people of color. At least 750,000 LGBT people would be impacted in a positive way by an increase in the minimum wage. Bottom Line: LGBT people and families will greatly benefit from an increase in the minimum wage, lifting many out of poverty.

National Center for Transgender Equality 1325 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 (202) 903-0112 ncte@transequality.org www.TransEquality.org

MINIMUM WAGE: LGBT FACT SHEET


April 2014

Three things to consider:


Transgender people are nearly four times more likely to have a household income of less than $10,000 per year compared to the general population.

$15,080
Minimum Wage 40 Hours Per Week 52 Weeks Per Year

Poverty Threshold: Single Parent One Child Under 18

$16,057 =

Current Federal Minimum Wage

$7.25/hr =

If Minimum Wage Had Kept Up With Inflation Over Past 40 years

$10.86/hr =

National Center for Transgender Equality 1325 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 (202) 903-0112 ncte@transequality.org www.TransEquality.org

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