This story from Reiten Broadcasting station KXMB is pretty nauseating.  It’s one of those “can you imagine living on the minimum wage?” stories that are meant, I guess, to evoke sympathy for low-wage workers.

But you know what these reports almost never include?  Details about just who it is among us that actually makes the minimum wage.

The article quotes the North Dakota Labor Department as saying that just 4,000 North Dakotans make the minimum wage.  That’s just sixth tenths of one percent of our entire population.  Not many people, in other words.  And according to the Employment Policies Institute, just 4% of North Dakotans who would be impacted by a minimum wage raise to $7.25/hour (those currently making $7.25/hour and less) are the single wage earners for their families.  The other 96% are young people who live with parents or family members whose income is not the primary income for the family.  Part-timers and students, to be specific.

All a hike in the minimum wage is going to do is make businesses who hire young people or retirees hire fewer of those sorts of people due to the extra expense.