A study by payroll company ADP shows that 7.2% of employees have wages garnishments.  See the details in this article by Michael Cohn in Accounting Today:

http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/payroll/wage-garnishments-all-too-common-among-workers-71978-1.html

Child support is the largest item garnished from wages, followed by taxes.  The midwest also has the most people who have wages garnished by region, and the manufacturing sector has the most by industry.  Broken down by age, the 35 to 44 group has the most wage garnishments, when financial obligations are at their highest.

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