The American Dream is that all citizens can fulfill their potential through hard work and perseverance. Many Americans work long hours under the belief that they are fulfilling their social contract. Yet, even lengthy work weeks at minimum wage can be insufficient to provide for life’s necessities. Many minimum wage workers must supplement their income with taxpayer-funded federal assistance programs in addition to working beyond the standard 40 hour work week. There is an economical and ethical imperative to increase the pay of low-income workers, and this can most effectively be done by raising the federally established minimum wage. The federal government assumed responsibility for ensuring wage fairness by implementing the minimum wage in 1938. However, the federal minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation and is no longer effectively ensuring wage fairness. Recognizing the need for increased income among unskilled workers, several cities, states, and major businesses have raised their local minimum wage beyond the federal level. Yet, this affects only a small portion of workers. It is imperative that the federal government update the established minimum wage across the board to help all workers achieve the American Dream. The federal minimum wage was established through the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which was passed in 1938. In addition to instituting the minimum wage, the FLSA also established working age requirements, the 40 hour work week, and mandated
There are a lot of people around the world who struggle with money and a satisfactory way of life. Whether they be in the United States or across the globe, there is a standard minimum wage set for the working class of their country. In the Unites States, there is a federal minimum wage of seven dollars and twenty five cents per hour worked. Almost every state has another set minimum wage, which typically is a little higher than the federal minimum wage, but it cannot be lower than seven dollars and twenty five cents. Countries set minimum wage laws, to ensure there is a basic quality of life amongst its citizens. As the minimum wage goes up in certain states, the quality of life also improves. The problem with a higher minimum wage, is now people are getting paid higher for entry level jobs which are meant for teenagers and people new to the workforce. If the minimum wage keeps increasing across the country, teenagers and young adults will have a much more difficult time finding jobs.
the federal government initial Minimum wage permitted was first presented by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1938. The Minimum wage was presented as a component of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA additionally covers things like business guidelines, extra hourly pay and recordkeeping.
The federal minimum wage was established in 1938 as a part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA established a number of constraints regarding labor including minimum wage, maximum work week, lowest employee age of 14, and other regulations. The federal minimum wage was “first established during the Depression, and it has risen from 25 cents to $7.25 per hour since” (Wihbey 1). The FLSA was established to protect the citizens and ensure a safe and fair workplace. Minimum wage was specifically included in the FLSA to ensure that employees would not be unfairly working for incredibly low wages. When minimum wage was first introduced to the US, it was determined to be “unconstitutional” in a court case. Since then, the wage has been adjusted for inflation about every 10 years.
The minimum wage was set in a federal mandate back in the 1938, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, to have a minimum hourly wage set across the United States. The bill is known as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It was founded to boost the low-income families and provide some money to the full time workers. In its original form, the bill first covered about 38 percent of the workers in America such as covering the workers in the mining field and transportation industry. As we became more technologically advanced it starting covering the airplane industry by 1947 and construction sites by the early sixties. In America today, the FLSA has covered close to 85 percent of the American workforce (Wilson, September 2012). The FLSA
The history of the Federal minimum wage dates to 1938 when then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed “the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)” into law (History of Minimum Wage). Franklin Delano Roosevelt signing the FLSA into law made sure that no American could be paid less than the federal minimum wage. The initial minimum wage was set at twenty-five cents an hour back in 1938. However, prior to Franklin Delano Roosevelt signing the Fair Labor Standards Act into law there was not any “national minimum wage, or…legislation to protect workers from exploitation. [Due to] lack of regulation tens of thousands of workers were routinely exploited in sweatshops and factories…for pennies a week” (Minimum-Wage.org). Which made covering day to day
Established by the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA), Federal minimum wage first went active October of 1938 starting at 25 cents an hour. According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics the minimum wage was not consistent until the start of 1978 and has increased 22 times since then to keep up with the rise on the prices of goods and services. The stretched period of times that minimum wage increased as well as inflation, the purchasing power of the minimum wage has decreased significantly during the time. The minimum wage is not cataloged to price levels, it has just been adjusted here and there to keep up with its loss in its real value (purchasing power) due to inflation. Minimum wage adjustments occurred alternately, often
It's still a relatively new topic, minimum wage. Introduced in 1938, by President Franklin Roosevelt, it was a part of the creation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This act established “minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers.”(United States Department of Labor). At the present time of 1938, 25¢was quite a significant amount of money. However, now, the federal minimum wage has been set at $7.25 by President Obama in 2009. Within the past seventy years, many states have desired to raise their own minimum wage higher than that of the federal minimum. Presently, twenty-nine states have elected to pay their workers more rather than giving them the short-end of the stick.
U.S. Congress passed the federal minimum wage law in 1938 as part of their Fair Labor Standards Act. Federal minimum wages were intended to ensure fair wages were paid to an alarming amount of women and youths employed and paid substandard wages. This also seems to be the case today, where countless Americans who work full time, cannot make ends meet by making minimum wage. Evidence shows that raising the minimum wage would drive consumer spending, thus producing faster macroeconomic growth. Wage stagnation is one of the key things holding back our economy from growing the way we need it to.
The minimum wage is the mandated price floor paid on hourly or daily basis for the employees regulated by the government or the union. In “Federal Minimum Wage”, New Zealand and Australia enacted the first minimum wage law during the late 19th century to prevent employers’ exploitation of workers. In 1912, Massachusetts passed the first minimum wage legislation in the US that was enforced for women and children, and fifteen more states followed in the next eleven years. However, the Supreme Court abolished the minimum wage laws in 1923 because the laws violated the women and employers’ Fifth Amendment or their right to negotiate a binding agreement without government interference. In the US, the first federal minimum wage law passed 25 cents per hour as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to help struggling workers during the Great Depression (“Federal Minimum Wage”). Since 1938, the minimum wage law has increased twenty-two times to $7.25 to keep pace with inflation. However, minimum wage laws have exemptions in some field of works such as tipped employee who earns $2.13 an hour in direct wages if the amount plus the tips received is at least the mandated minimum wage. In addition, agricultural workers earn their salaries by the number of bags or weight multiplied by the crops’ selling price (“Minimum Wage and Overtime Basics”).
Minimum wage continues to increase, but does it increase enough? Minimum wage right now in Florida is set at $8.05 but who can really live off that. It is absurd that the minimum wage has not increase since the 1960’s in real buying power. The reason for this statement is that the minimum wage in the 1960’s allowed people to buy more items then they could buy with the minimum wage in 2013. In Order have the same buying power as in the 1960’s the minimum wage in 2013 would need to be at least $9.84 an hour. However, the minimum wage in 2013 was only at $7.25 an hour which was a 35.7 percent decrease of the buying power of an individual. The cost of living is continuously increasing. Bills, housing and everyday expenses continue to increase, which is making it impossible for people to live comfortably. The Minimum wage increase ties into chapter 8 Social Stratification and the U.S Class system in the Society in Focus book. Applying the conflict, functionalist and symbolic interactionist perspective to this chapter will help with further understanding the different aspects and causes with increasing minimum wage.
The minimum wage has had an effect upon our economy for over 75 years. When the Fair Labor Standards Act was signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1938, it set a federal minimum wage, stipulations for overtime, and minimum working conditions for child labor
The great nation of the United States has relied and grown on the basis of a widely used term: “The American Dream”. Those three words for many spark feelings of opportunity, hope, and aspirations, however more so now than ever people are considering the term as three empty and even deceiving words. The root of the issue lies in the economic state of the working class and the steps that the government is taking to ensure the virtues of social class mobility in our society. In 2013 Secretary of Labor Tom Perez proposed to raise the federal hourly minimum wage from the current $7.25 to $10.10. Since then, there has been heavy political debate and controversy over the proposal and Congress has yet to act on it. The evidence through social observations and analysis is clear that raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would protect the sacred American dream by increasing opportunity for hard working Americans, stimulating revenue for businesses, and defending the interests of our nation’s consumers and taxpayers.
With the upcoming election consuming the attention of nearly every corner of our country, the long-debated issue of minimum wage has one again resurfaced. When initially established in 1938 minimum wage was set to be equivalent to half of the salary of an average factory worker, or in other terms, enough to keep a family of three above the poverty line (Becker). However in their current state, these wages have fallen well below the one half marker and now leaves a family of a single mother and a two children at just 76% of the poverty line (Bradley 6). This is because federal minimum wage has stagnated in recent history, where it has remained unchanged since 2009 when it was boosted to its current $7.25 (Becker). There have recently been attempts by President Obama to have the federal minimum wage raised to around $10, but they have continuously met a brick wall in congress (Nader). Like with most issues that circulate our country, conservative and liberal thinkers cling to opposing solutions. While both conservative and liberal economic thinkers want to help stimulate the economy, they disagree about the role in that minimum wage plays in achieving this goal. Conservative economic thinkers believe that a raise in wages would cause job loss, hurt business and raise prices while liberal economic theorists claim that it would lower inequality, stimulate consumer spending and lower government expenditures on entitlement programs.
While its wildly known that United States is the land of opportunity, there is not much attention on that fact that for those with minimal education and experience, there is little room for growth. The American pay grade varies based on level of education, geographic location, gender, and citizenship status. Those with living circumstances and lifestyles beyond their control are too often limited by societal norms. Notably, those who make the mere minimum wage, generally, do not want to settle for such undesirable pay. The most principal issue with income inequality is that laborious and time-consuming work amounts to unlivable wages and little to no opportunities for advancement. Thus, to combat the issue of income inequality in American society, the government must acknowledge that increases in minimum wage are necessary.
“Minimum wage in America isn’t as old as you might think: the first federal minimum wage was first introduced by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1938. Minimum wage was set at 25 cents an hour, which works out to about $4 per hour in today’s money.