If you think the vast majority of Canadians earning minimum wage are teenagers who live at home and work in entry-level jobs, think again.
A new report by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) challenges popular conceptions about who makes up the minimum wage workforce, concluding that a sizeable number of people over the age of 25 are minimum wage earners who are struggling to support themselves, let alone a family.
“What a lot of people think of when they think of a minimum wage earner is someone starting on their first job, someone who is typically a teenager looking to make some extra money,” said Gwen Suprovich, the report’s author.
“In fact, most minimum wage earners are legal adults. They may be typically younger, in their 20s, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t adults supporting their families.”
