11 Facts About The Minimum Wage That President Obama Forgot To Mention

Unfortunately for the White House, many of its claims about the minimum wage are divorced from reality. Here are 11 facts about the minimum wage that Barack Obama forgot to mention during his State of the Union address.

1) Only 1 Percent Of The U.S. Labor Force Earns The Minimum Wage

2) Teenagers Comprise The Single Largest Age Group Of Minimum Wage Workers

3) Most Minimum Wage Workers Are Under The Age Of 25

4) A Majority Of Those Who Earn The Minimum Wage Work In Food Preparation Or Sales

5) Less Than 5 Percent Of People Who Earn The Minimum Wage Work In

6) A Majority Of Them Also Worked Less Than 30 Hours Per Week

7) Less Than One-Third Worked Full-Time

8) A Full-Time Minimum Wage Worker In 2014 Will Make 24 Percent More Than The Federal Poverty Limit

A White House tweet and accompanying infographic from last August said, "It's time to raise the minimum wage because nobody who works full-time should love in poverty." But a little math and a quick look at the 2014 federal poverty guidelines show that a single individual who earns the current federal minimum wage and works full-time will earn $14,500 in a year (50 weeks per year x 40 hours per week x $7.25 per hour). By way of comparison, the federal poverty limit for 2014 for a one-person household is $11,670.

Wage income from a two-earner family with two kids where both adults earned the minimum wage would exceed the federal poverty limit by 22 percent:  $29,000 in income compared to a four-member household federal poverty limit of $23,850. And that's before federal benefits like Medicaid and food stamps are included.

9) One-Third Of Minimum Wage Workers Either Dropped Out Of Or Never Attended High School

10) There Are Nearly Six Times More Minimum Wage Workers Today Than In 2007

11) A Change In The Minimum Wage Often Triggers Union Wage Hikes And Benefit Renegotiations

The famous investment banker J.P. Morgan said something along the lines of, "Every man has two reasons for everything he does:  a good reason and the real reason."

http://thefederalist.com/2014/01/28/11-facts-about-the-minimum-wage-that-president-obama-forgot-to-mention-during-the-state-of-the-union/
Read the whole article to find out the real reason why the min wage is a political winner for the President.