Introduction To Minimum Wage
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Introduction Hurts Economy Helps Economy
Definition
Minimum wage is defined as the lowest wage paid or permitted to be paid; specifically : a wage fixed by legal authority or by contract as the least that may be paid either to employed persons generally or to a particular category of employed persons. More than 90% of all countries have minimum wage legistration
Minimum Wage History in the US
1912
- Massachusetts was the first jurisdiction in the United States to institute a minimum wage. The ligistration only applied to women and minorities in certain industries and it lacked any sound inforcement mechanism
1933
- National Industrial Recovery Act established a minimum wage of $.25-per-hour standard
1935
- In the case Schechter Poultry Corporation v. United States(295 U.S. 495) the supreme court declared the National Industrial Recovery Act unconstitutional
1938
- Under the Fair Labor Standards Act the Minimum wage was re-established in the US once again to $.25 per hour
1990's
- President Bill Clinton passed a bill which allows states to set their minimum wage above the federal level
2006
- More and More states are increasing the state minimum wage ranging from $1 up to $1.70 an hour
Federal Hourly Minimum Wage Increase
Month / Year Minimum Hourly Wage
October 1938 $0.25
October 1939 $0.30
October 1945 $0.40
January 1950 $0.75
March 1956 $1.00
September 1961 $1.15
February 1967 $1.40
May 1974 $2.00
January 1976 $2.30
January 1979 $2.90
January 1981 $3.35
April 1990 $3.80
October 1996 $4.75
September 1997 $5.15
Historical Trends of Minimum Wage
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- The graph above shows both the real and nominal wage from 1938 when the minimum wage was first set at $.25 in 1938 all the way up to 2005's minimum wage which was set at $5.15 an hour. The graph shows that U.S legistration has continually raised the minimum wage but when calculated in real 2005 dollars, the U.S. Real minimum wage shows an overall decrease from the 1970's.
- The second graph shows that as the minimum wages have declined in terms of real wages, the percent of workers covered, too, has declined. Over 130 cities now have "living wages." Living wages is a requirement by employers to pay wages that are above federal or state level minimum wage levels
- The graph above shows the breakdown of minimum wage by state showing that Washington has the highest wage at $7.35per hour which was passed by the 1998 voter intiative. Washington was the first state in the nation to index their minmum wage to inflation
