BY RICK LARSEN

Growing up in Arlington, a lot of my friends worked minimum-wage jobs. I worked at a bookbindery during high school, pulling in about $3.50 an hour during the summer break.

That image of a high school student working a few hours a week for some extra cash is the idea that a lot of us get when we think about the minimum wage. Opponents of raising the minimum wage use that antiquated portrait to oppose wage increases today. They say a higher wage hurts businesses only to put a few extra bucks in the pockets of teenagers.

But the reality is that picture falls terribly short in illustrating the reality of the low-wage labor market today. So let's debunk that myth now. The truth is that low-wage workers are older and often the sole breadwinners to support their families.

Read the full op-ed here.