Today, a report from the Economic Policy Institute reveals that 40 percent of restaurant workers in America live in poverty or near-poverty. You should read the report.

It’s not only the fast food industry that has a labor problem; it’s the entire restaurant industry, which accounts for 5.5 million women and 5.1 million men. It’s an issue certainly relevant to the Bay Area, where the cost of living is higher than ever, and restaurants — especially ambitious ones — continue to open at a breakneck pace.

And with the minimum wage vote looming this fall, the issue will stay relevant; in fact, the Chronicle’s Joe Garofoli reports today that if San Francisco votes to raise the minimum wage, 142,000 workers – or 23 percent of the city’s workforce – would get a raise by the time it fully kicks in to $15 an hour by 2018. Garofoli also reports that the bump would cause restaurant labor costs to rise 9 percent, and restaurant prices would increase by 2.7 percent by 2018.

All local restaurants, old and new, are still having trouble finding staff, especially cooks; see the Chronicle’s story from December for more on San Francisco’s cook shortage. As pointed out in that piece, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that restaurant cooks in San Francisco make an average annual salary of $27,660, well below the average San Francisco salary of $62,680.

You can read the full 25-page EPI report here, which also includes plenty of strong visuals and charts about demographics and breakdowns of specific restaurant occupations. Here are some of EPI’s more important — and striking — details:

The median hourly wage in the restaurant industry, including tips, is $10.00, compared with $18.00 outside of the restaurant industry.

The lowest-paid occupation is cashiers/counter attendants, at $8.23 an hour, while the highest paid are managers, at a typical wage of $15.42 per hour—which is still lower than the overall median wage outside the restaurant industry.

One in six restaurant workers, or 16.7 percent, live below the official poverty line. The poverty rate for workers outside the restaurant industry is more than 10 percentage points lower, at 6.3 percent.

Twice the official poverty threshold is commonly used by researchers as a measure of what it takes for a family to make ends meet. More than two in five restaurant workers, or 43.1 percent, live below twice the poverty line—more than twice the 19.9 percent share outside the restaurant industry.

By race/ethnicity and gender, poverty rates in the restaurant industry are highest for women, blacks, and Hispanics. Among workers in the restaurant industry, poverty rates are much lower for workers in a union.

14.4 percent of restaurant workers receive health insurance from their employer, compared with 48.7 percent of other workers.

The EPI report also proposes several solutions to these labor issues, most of which are legislative, including:

Increase the minimum wage and eliminate the tipped minimum wage.

Pass comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship for undocumented workers.

Pass legislation requiring all employers to provide paid sick days to their employees.

Update labor law and protect workers’ right to organize.

What do you think? We want to hear from you, especially industry folks. Share your thoughts in the comments, or email them directly to insidescoopsf@sfgate.com.

· Minimum wage bump would help close wealth gap for 23% in S.F. [San Francisco Chronicle]

· Previously: Economy, opportunity thinning restaurants’ supply of cooks [San Francisco Chronicle]