• The share of full-time workers aged 25 to 64 earning at least $15/hour and living below 200 percent of the poverty level was lower in 2022 than in 1990. However, in states like Arizona, Oregon, and Rhode Island, this trend varied by race: people of color saw slight increases in their share, while white workers experienced slight decreases.
• Overall, just 77 percent of people of color, aged 25 to 64, earn $15/hour or above compared to 87 percent of white people. Among full-time workers aged 25 to 64, just 80 percent of all US women earn at least $15/hour compared to 85 percent of all men. 
• There are wide wage inequities by race among people with similar education levels: 68 percent of White people, aged 25 to 64, who did not graduate high school earn at least $15/hour, compared with 57 percent of people of color.
• Among full-time workers, aged 25 to 64, 90 percent of Asian Americans born in the US earn at least $15/hour compared to 74 percent of Pacific Islander immigrants, and only 67 percent of Latinx immigrants.
   

Wages on the lower end of the wage distribution are stagnant, causing a decline in the share of workers who can earn a living wage. This trend is driven by shifts in the U.S. economy, such as corporate outsourcing to countries with lower wages, stock buybacks in lieu of investment in workers, employer consolidation, and declines in union membership. Federal policy choices, such as fiscal austerity and a stagnant minimum wage, also contribute. However, these shifts have disproportionately impacted women and people of color. These populations are overrepresented in low-paying jobs because of historical factors such as racial segregation and policies that banned women and people of color from accessing education and higher paid professions. Ongoing factors, like discriminatory hiring practices, lack of affordable childcare, and disparities in generational wealth, also contribute to wage stagnation.

• Raise the minimum wage federally and at the local or state level.
• Enact living-wage laws that require government offices and contractors to pay living wages.
• Strengthen workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively for a living wage.
• Establish standards to ensure public investments in economic development and infrastructure create living-wage jobs.
• Pursue full-employment economic policies that promote hiring, increased work hours,  and living wages for low-wage workers.
• At the federal level, institute a federal jobs guarantee, dedicate 1 percent of infrastructure investments to a fund for inclusive job and contracting supports, enact a $15/hour minimum wage for all workers, require paid sick leave and family leave for all workers, and guarantee workers’ right to organize at scale.

• Reports: $15 Minimum Wage Would Improve Incomes, Increase Equity; Causes of Wage Stagnation
• Data: Living Wage Calculator; Family Budget Calculator; State of Working America