&gt; that&#x27;s why virtually no jobs actually pay the minimum wage.<p>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&#x27;ve collected are for 2013.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.livingwage.org.nz&#x2F;about" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.livingwage.org.nz&#x2F;about</a>
[2] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;employment.govt.nz&#x2F;er&#x2F;pay&#x2F;backgroundpapers&#x2F;2013&#x2F;mwr-2013-and-mwo-2014-cabinet-papers.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;employment.govt.nz&#x2F;er&#x2F;pay&#x2F;backgroundpapers&#x2F;2013&#x2F;mwr-2...</a>
[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net&#x2F;nzlivingwage&#x2F;pages&#x2F;129&#x2F;attachments&#x2F;original&#x2F;1434872244&#x2F;Living_wage_and_the_world&#x27;s_most_liveable_city_FINAL.pdf?1434872244" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net&#x2F;nzlivingwage&#x2F;pages&#x2F;129...</a>