The prevalence of low-wage work generally decreases with age; however, more than 1 in 4 workers over the age of 30 and 1 in 3 workers over the age of 65 are paid low wages
The bars show the prevalence of low-wage work among different age groups. For example, 35.4% of workers aged 65 and older are paid low wages.
Bar chart showing the u-shaped prevalence of low-wage work across age groups in California (2022). The x-axis includes ages 16-17, 18-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-54, 55-64, and 65 and older. The y-axis describes the share of low-wage workers in each age group, from 0 to 80%. While 80.9% of 16- and 17-year-olds are paid low wages, 26.5% of workers aged 40-54 are also paid hourly wages equal to $19.69 or less. This rate rises as workers get older, with 35.4% of workers aged 65 and older earning low wages.
