Who are low-wage workers? They tend to more likely be white and female, possessing a less formal education and with family responsibilities, working part-time in the service industry as retail clerks and cashiers, childcare workers and education assistants, nurses aides, security guards, and many other low-wage positions. Read a list of low-wage occupations.

Learn more about the working poor in this section of Quintessential Careers: Low Wage Jobs: Tools, Statistics, Resources

Here are some basic statistics -- comparing the low-wage workforce (earning an hourly wage under $9 and a yearly income of $18,800) to the total U.S. workforce:

Characteristic	Low-Wage Workforce	Total Workforce
Percent of Workforce	24 percent	100 percent
Average Hourly Wage (2003)	$7.09	$17.15
GENDER
Female	58 percent	45 percent
Male	42 percent	55 percent
RACE
White	58 percent	73 percent
Hispanic	22 percent	11 percent
Black	14 percent	10 percent
Asian/Other	6 percent	6 percent
EDUCATION
Less than High School	23 percent	6 percent
High School Grad	37 percent	29 percent
Some College	31 percent	29 percent
College Grad+	9 percent	36 percent
AGE
18-25	37 percent	10 percent
26-35	22 percent	25 percent
36+	41 percent	65 percent
OCCUPATION
Services	50 percent	18 percent
Operations	21 percent	24 percent
Clerical	15 percent	16 percent
Managers	12 percent	41 percent
Others	2 percent	1 percent

Source: Economic Policy Institute.

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