A year-long study on who is earning minimum wage in Utah commissioned by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has concluded it's likely to be a young white male in his early 20s. The result differs from the rest of the country, where women are most likely to earn no more than the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour.

But the findings of the $50,000 study are in question.

The group pointed to a survey of 3,808 businesses in addition to 2000 census data and more recent state data. But just 730 of the businesses surveyed responded, making for a response rate of 19.2 percent statisticians say cannot be considered a scientific poll with an acceptable margin of error.

The 12-person committee appointed by Huntsman to oversee the study failed to reach any conclusions about whether the Legislature should take action or leave it to the Democrat-controlled Congress, which plans to take up the issue next month.

"There were certain members [of the committee] who felt that if the federal government was going to [raise the minimum wage], should we not step aside and let them," said Pamela Atkinson, a homeless advocate and Huntsman's point person on minimum wage. "Others felt we should make a statement and pass a bill in the Utah Legislature."

The study found 169,000 Utah workers would likely benefit from a raise in the minimum wage to $7 per hour. Of that number, 71,000 would be directly affected with an increase to the new required level. Another 99,000 already earning $7 an hour would probably get a raise to move their compensation above the minimum level, the study said.

Yet the question of whether large numbers of Utah workers are paid the federal minimum wage and could benefit from state action may be largely moot, given Utah's ultra-low unemployment rate and near-record employment growth. Many employers who depend on entry-level and low-wage workers wage say they are paying at least $2 or $3 an hour more than minimum wage to attract and retain employees.

"In many of my stores, the average wage is $8 an hour. To be honest, we haven't paid minimum wage for years," said Bill Schoen, vice president of company operations for Arctic Circle Restaurants in Midvale, which operates and franchises more than 43 fast-food eateries in Utah.

John Williams, a principal of Utah restaurant chain Gastronomy, cannot remember the last time someone working for him earned only the minimum wage.

"The only people we pay minimum wage are employees who earn tips . . . and with those tips they make way over what minimum wage would be," said Williams, who has 650 employees at six restaurants. "We don't have any cooks, dishwashers or anyone else at our company that earns minimum wage. We couldn't get or keep people if we paid only minimum wage."

Many employers have no minimum wage workers at all. The only group within Salt Lake City School District's approximately 3,000 workers that earn minimum wage are about a dozen students who work as stage crew in school auditoriums, said Jason Olsen, district spokesman.

"Especially in the metro areas, it's hard for employers to pay minimum wage and find anybody who is willing to work for them," said Mark Knold, economist Utah Department of Workforce Services.

Knold estimates about 16,600 people in Utah make minimum wage or less. Of that group, the overwhelming majority - about 12,600 people - earn below minimum wage, he said. But most of those people are waiters and waitresses, Knold said, who earn tips that boost their base wage in many cases well above minimum wage.

While the study concluded that most minimum wage earners are white males, research by groups such as the Pew Hispanic Center, which tracks immigrant issues, suggests otherwise. Reports by the center suggest many people earning minimum wage may not be white males but Latinos new to the country - especially undocumented immigrants - and those who speak little or no English.

The state's study did not determine the issue of undocumented workers, but found that 87 percent of minimum wage earners are white and only 9 percent are Latino.

While the study found that 83 percent of minimum wage earners are 20 or older, some businesses suggested many - if not most - minimum wage earners are teenagers.

Trendy clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, for instance, employs close to 100 part-timers, most of whom are teenagers who start at $5.50 an hour, slightly more than the minimum wage.

"Most kids work five to 15 hours a week, just as a part-time job," said Mikey Collard, assistant manager at the Abercrombie & Fitch store in The Gateway shopping center in Salt Lake City.

Brad Perkins, 18, who works at the firm's Gateway store, said he's working for the discount on clothes, for extra pocket money and because managers are flexible in assigning him hours around his daily schedule at Highland High School.

Others like Lizz Hurst, 15, from Blanding, said she was delighted to earn a minimum wage at an ice cream shop in Blanding this summer because odd jobs such as baby-sitting she has done, paid less.

Read more online at www.cppa.utah.edu