Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for December 18, 2018
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
December 18, 2018: Of the nation’s 137.9 million workers, 80.4 million are paid on an hourly basis. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that just over half a million of these hourly workers earn just the federal minimum wage. That works out to 0.4% of the workforce—one out of every 263 workers.[1]
And it’s even lower among full-time workers. Fewer than one out of every 500 Americans with a full-time job are paid the minimum wage. It’s just as rare among workers 25 and older.
However, Americans overwhelmingly believe the number is much larger. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of American adults think that more than one out of every 10 workers are paid at the minimum.[2]
In reality, a majority of minimum wage workers are 24 and under.
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- December 17, 2018 – 3 percent of Americans live in chronic poverty
- December 14, 2018 – 245 years ago today, the Body of the People met to discuss the “tea crisis”
- December 13, 2018 – 18% have not started holiday shopping yet
- December 12, 2018 – 95 percent of young teens have access to a smartphone
- December 11, 2018 – 5.3 murders per 100,000 Americans in 2017
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by Ballotpedia weekdays at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Click here to check out the latest update.
The Number of the Day is broadcast on local stations across the country. An archive of these broadcasts can be found here.
Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
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