The Reality of Who Actually Works For Minimum Wage...

 I saw this pie chart on upworth.com and immediately thought about Heidi Hartman's discussion of feminist economics! This is such a shocking statistic- that 48.5% of minimum wage workers are adult women. During Heidi Hartman's public presentation, she went through graph after graph that made clear the economic consequences of being a "woman" (which was especially reflected during the recession). Here are a few take-aways from her presentation that I thought you all would enjoy.

• The wage gap is narrowing! Men's earnnings have leveled out since the 70's, while women's have increased.
• Women have always had higher unemployment rates. Single mothers have the highest.
• People with children have higher poverty rates, especially single mothers.
• Women in low-paying jobs STILL get less money than men in the same low-paying jobs.
• Men have a higher growth rate in every industry during the recession recovery, while women have a higher loss rate in every industry but two- Manufacturing and Financial Activitites. 
• More women are attending college than men. 

The above statements are based on research done by the Institute of Women's Policy Research.