Who is affected by the minimum wage?

Commonwealth Foundation:

In a 2005 study, the Commonwealth Foundation estimated than an increase of Pennsylvania’s minimum wage would result in 10,000 fewer low-wage jobs in the state (along with an economic cost of over $300 million). But in a state with almost 6 million workers, these lost jobs are certain to be obscured by other trends. Yet basic economics and nearly every academic study conclude that a higher minimum wage results in lost jobs and other economic costs.

Even economists who support a minimum wage increase acknowledge these negative consequences, but argue that a “small increase” will only have a minor detrimental effect on the overall economy. This is why no economist, nor any politician, would ever propose a minimum wage for all workers of, say, $327,000 (the minimum salary for a Major League Baseball player). Such an increase would clearly lead to a massive jobs lost and hyperinflation, which would send our economy into a tailspin.

[...][A] Commonwealth Foundation analysis of BLS data indicates that in 2005, 70% of workers earning under $7.15 came from families with income over $25,000 and 39% had family income of over $50,000. Furthermore, 56% of low-wage workers were under 24 years old, and 46% lived with their parents. Only about 10% of low-wage workers were the sole income source for a family with children.

A Congressional Budget Office study looking at a federal minimum wage increase reaches similar conclusions. It found that less than 20% of workers earning $7.25 or less were from families in poverty. Well over one-third were earning over three times the poverty line for their family size. Over 56% of the earnings gains (assuming no job loss, for ease of calculation) would go to families earning more than double the poverty rate. The CBO concludes that a minimum wage increase, unlike programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, does not effectively target low-income families.

[...]BLS data on minimum wage workers indicate that the number of minimum wage workers in the US declined from 4.8 million in 1997 (when the last federal increase went into effect) to 1.7 million in 2006. This decline occurred while the total workforce is growing. And few of the minimum wage workers in 2006 were earning the minimum wage in 1997—in fact a majority was 15 years old or younger in 1997