names you know to increase worker pay. the median wage for a fast food employee is now just over $9 an hour. you do the math. that s just about $18,500 a year. more than $4,000 below what the government says is the poverty line for a family of four. that s $23,000 a year. it s clear that the inequality of income in this country is too far gone. or too long. that s why $15 an hour seems so high. it s gone unchecked. you know, a lot of corporations are allowed to self-regulate these days. this is what happens. the number of workers making minimum wage in the restaurant industry is 5%. again, the point is that we re creating opportunity. we re creating opportunity for everybody. and i think you cannot just pay wages based on a person s need. you ve got to pay wages based on the what the economy is willing to bear and the business
in the big finish tonight, an industry dominated by working moms just got a serious wake-up call. hundreds of workers walked off their jobs across new york city yesterday. this is an unprecedented strike by mostly nonunion workers. their target is the fast food industry. some people might think fast food employees are just teenage kids out there flipping burgers making minimum wage until something better comes along. not the case. median age of a fast food employee in this country is 28 years old. 66% of fast food employees are women. on average those women are 32 years of age or older. fast food is dominated by adult employees. most fast food workers are part time. managers keep them working under 40 hours per week. to avoid paying them full benefits. most make about $18,000 a year.
moves of one fast food employee. this isn t good. a mcdonald s employee in minnesota was arrested for stealing the credit card numbers of drive-through customers. or as the customers put it, i m eating at a mcdonald s and don t have cash to pay for it, you want to steal my identity? be my guest, idiot. big news today. a top story in the new york times and on the today show. the department of agriculture announced that it will ban six new strands of e coal higkol. c explains why the hot dog vendor outside my building is just selling napkins. the white house is planning an official state trip to australia this november which is why biden spent all day looking for an australian translator. got to get them before we get out there. and on jimmy tonight, greg
us for this civil conversation early on this wednesday morning. shelly moore capito and emanuel cleaver, thank you. thank you. good to be with you. all right, gretchen and brian? all right, thanks very much, steve. not sure what brian is up to. after last night s state of the union address, reminded people of a new american dream. the president is sending mixed messages and he s going to tell you whether or not you believe the american dream has changed. i ll tell you that. you promise? then you ll have 3 1/2 minutes left. and a fast food employee takes the brunt of a beatdown for trying to stop a teenage food fight. but these kids made an even bigger mistake capturing their own brawl on video. stuart, you have no comments? no comment at all. yes. [ giggles ] hey, max. [ announcer ] you can help significantly extend your dog s healthy years. a groundbreaking 14-year study by purina. proves that puppy chow, then dog chow nutrition, fed properly over a lifetime, can help