On the recordSeptember 10, 2014
Mr. Lowenthal went through all the numbers for the State of California. It has the same effect in my State of Wisconsin. When you look at it, if you raise that minimum wage to $10.10, as the bill from Senator Harkin does and the one that Representative George Miller from California has introduced in this body, not only is it 28 million people in this country that will get a raise, but it is half a million people just in my home State of Wisconsin, a half million people. One of the things that I have heard sometimes when you talk to people, they say, ``If you raise the minimum wage, all you are doing is giving extra pocket money to teenagers who are living with their parents.'' Well, that is one of the great myths that is out there because here is the reality: the average age of a minimum wage worker is 35 years old. When you look at the exact breakout of who it is, 90 percent are over 20 years old, and more than half of them are older than 25 years old. You are not talking about a teenager living at home. You are talking about people who are living independently in the community, trying to get by on $7.35 an hour or close to $15,000 a year, in a job that often has no benefits--health benefits, pension, et cetera. Fifty-five percent of the people on minimum wage are working full time. Forty-four percent have some type of college education, an associate degree or bachelor's degree or other higher education. That is the reality of the minimum wage worker in this country.…
