> that's why virtually no jobs actually pay the minimum wage. I thought this statement might be due to the crazy-low federal minimum wage in the USA, so I look

> that's why virtually no jobs actually pay the minimum wage. I thought this statement might be due to the crazy-low federal minimum wage in the USA, so I looked at statistics here in NZ where the minimum wage is closer to reasonable (although still only 75% of the living wage [1]). 2.4% of people in employment earn minimum wage [2], and 39% earn less than the living wage for their main job [3] (about the same if you look at total income). All statistics and values I've collected are for 2013. [1] http://www.livingwage.org.nz/about http://www.livingwage.org.nz/about [2] http://employment.govt.nz/er/pay/backgroundpapers/2013/mwr-2013-and-mwo-2014-cabinet-papers.pdf http://employment.govt.nz/er/pay/backgroundpapers/2013/mwr-2... [3] https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/nzlivingwage/pages/129/attachments/original/1434872244/Living_wage_and_the_world's_most_liveable_city_FINAL.pdf?1434872244 https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/nzlivingwage/pages/129...