Read a Nov. 8, 2008, New York Times story about how the working poor and young are hit particularly hard by the faltering economy.

Read a June 12, 2009, Wall Street Journal op-ed column arguing that the third increase in the minimum wage should not be carried out because of the high unemployment rate. It’s written by David Neumark, an economics professor at the University of California, Irvine.

Read a Feb. 16, 2006, analysis from the Economic Policy Institute of the economic impact of living-wage legislation.

See a Dec. 10, 2008, Brookings Institution report on the impact of living wage laws.

About 3.6 million workers–4.7% of all hourly paid workers in the United States–earned the minimum wage or less in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. Department of Labor Web site provides an interactive map with information about minimum-wage laws in each state.

The U.S. Department of Labor provides information on the history of the minimum wage, from 1938 to the present.

See a chart that tracks minimum-wage legislation by state. Some of those bills would also link the minimum wage to the cost-of-living index.

California Church IMPACT is the legislative advocacy arm of the California Council of Churches, which supported a state bill that it says would make sentencing for youths fairer. Email through the website.