The Fair Labor Standards Act, brought about in 1938, establishes the minimum wage that must be paid to all employees. After the great depression, people were asking for a change. The minimum wage issues have been changed plenty of times since 1938, mainly for expanding coverage or increasing the hourly wage. Since then, it has been raised 22 separate times. The most recent increase was in 2007, which raised the rate to its current 2017 level of $7.25 per hour.
Although many in the government believe minimum wage is sufficient to survive and increasing minimum wage can have negative effects on the economy, like losing millions of jobs. By increasing the minimum wage individuals will be less likely to live below the poverty line, and the bond with government assistance can be separated, and the amount of consumer spending might increase.
Also when setting the minimum wage, the government gives several exemptions and a few dollars off one's hourly wage for certain types of workers and different classes or levels. Even with that, the government minimum wage presentation still could cover the vast majority of the workforce. Even though it's a wide range, the minimum wage mainly affects a relatively
Hilliard 2 smaller size of the workforce. In 2017, there's around, well over two million workers whose hourly wage are at or under the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Such as, contracted farm workers, taxi drivers, and food service tipped employees.
Adding on to the arguments on
The topic of raising minimum wage seems to attract a multitude of controversy. On one side, experts agree that raising a family on one minimum wage salary is almost impossible for someone who puts in fairly large work hours. Nonetheless, business owners agree that increasing these salaries will result in significantly less jobs, as well as force them to increase the prices on their consumer products. Federally, minimum wage workers earn $7.25 an hour, totaling up to $15,080 annually, with approximately six hours of working time per day. However, the price varies with state, with places like Massachusetts and Washington paying $11 to workers hourly.
The first federal minimum wage mandated by the government was in 1938. When the first minimum wage became law in 1938, it was set at just 25 cents. Today, the federal minimum wage mandated by the government is set at $7.25 an hour. “Many states have their own set minimum wages, which are currently above $7.25 per hour already. Currently, 29 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. D.C. 's new wage of $10.50 an hour makes it the first jurisdiction to cross the $10 threshold among the states,” (Halvorson). The last time that the federal minimum wage mandated by the government was changed was over 8 years ago. “The last time Congress voted to raise the minimum wage to its current rate of $7.25 an hour was on May 24, 2007. Since then, the cost of life 's essentials has shot up. Groceries cost 20% more, a gallon of gas costs 25% more, and average tuition at a community college increased 44%. But the minimum wage remains at
We need to know who the minimum wage worker is to understand how the Federal minimum wage affects them. In 2015 workers that make at or below the federal minimum wage comprised 3.3% of the 78.2 million workers in the United States that were paid hourly rates. This was a decline from 3.9% in 2014 and is well below the high of 13.4% in 1979 when data was first recorded. 20% of hourly paid workers are under the age of 25. The age group of 16-25 comprises approximately half of those that are paid minimum wage in the United States. Only 11% of employed teenagers (ages 16-19) that work for an hourly wage earn the federal minimum wage compared to about 2% of workers who are 25 and older that work for an hourly wage (Bureau of Labor). The service occupation industry and predominantly the food service industry comprised 67% of those that earn the federal minimum wage in 2015 in the U.S. Bureau of Labor 2015 report.
The minimum wage is intended to protect workers and fight poverty. In the United States, the federal government sets the minimum wage at $7.25 per hour although many states set higher minimums. There is currently a movement to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. This movement is called the “Living Wage Movement” (Living Wage Resource Center, 2016) or the “Fight for $15” (Fortunato, 2016) and purports to address the problem of poverty in America.
Minimum wage is an hourly wage rage that is set by law. Some states and local governments have established higher minimum wages for American workers. Some localities have passed living wage rules that mandate hourly wages higher than minimum wage for employers doing business with city government, (minimum wage). Some supporters on minimum wage say that they are important because they have found social welfare programs that help welfare
Around 4% of America's hourly workers are paid minimum wage or below ("Minimum Wage"). Even though 4% might not seem like much, minimum wage affects everyone, including the people who write the paycheck and the people earning it. Three million employees and their employers are largely affected by changes in wage ("Minimum Wage"). Ever since 1938 when the first National minimum wage law was passed, minimum wage has been a very controversial topic winning over supporters and critics across the world.
The federal minimum wage has been raised 22 times since it was first put into place in 1938, and today’s minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Today’s minimum wage is
The federal minimum wage is a clearly defined wage that must be paid by businesses to their employees. Failure to accommodate the federal minimum wage is violation of federal law and punishable by the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor. Debate over the minimum wage rate has been revived in recent years, largely due to President Barack Obama’s belief that the minimum wage should be increased. Currently the minimum wage stands at $7.25 per hour. The minimum wage is $2.13 for a worker who receives tips, assuming that the wage with tips amounts to at least the federal minimum wage. There appears to be a fairly even split in those who believe the wage should be increased and those who believe it should not change; this would be the reason debate over the issue
In 2014, 1.3 million employees earned the federal minimum wage, but 1.7 million workers obtained pay below this wage (“Federal Minimum Wage: Is The Federal Minimum Wage Good For The Economy?”). The employees who get paid below the federal minimum wage, receive tips or different rates, depending on which state they live, but the most of employees who gain minimum wage are affected by their incomes. If the minimum wage increases, it will benefit millions of workers. The money workers based on minimum wage workers gained was insufficient to afford all their
In 1938, the first national minimum wage laws in the United States were passed as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which served as “a floor below wages,” to reduce poverty and to ensure that economic growth is shared across the workforce. Today, many people who work for companies that pay at or near the minimum wage and remain near or below the poverty level rely on government health and food security and income programs to supplement their living expenses. Since 1938, there have been many additional policies to the Fair Labor Standards Act that have changed many things, such as increasing the national minimum wage numerous times to the currently salary level, which was set in 1997. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, from the United States Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, was a policy to change the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 in three additions, which began in July of 2009. (U.S., 2009).
Usually it is those who work in fast food, young, and low level jobs that work for minimum wage. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “In 2012, there were 3.6 million hourly paid workers in the United States with wages at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. These workers made up 4.7 percent of the 75.3 million workers age 16 and over who were paid at hourly rates.” Of course with the raise of minimum wage, comes the raise of inflation. Inflation affects everyone as well whether you get a raise in pay or not. “Despite the increases, inflation has eroded its value; returning it to the value it held in 1968 would require an increase to nearly $10 per hour. In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama called for raising the minimum wage to $9 per hour, which in adjusted terms would put it back at its early 1980s level” (John Wibhey). Sadly, our money no longer hold the value it once did and the subsequently affects
In United States the minimum wage is been set by a network of federal, state, and local laws. Workers are generally been paid no less than the statutory minimum wage as specified by the government. As of July 2009, the federal government officially ordered a nationwide minimum wage level of $7.25 per hour. The federal minimum wage was at its highest at 10 dollars in 1968, as measured in 2014. Since then there were controversial debates over the
Minimum wage is a government regulated wage that all employers must meet or exceed for all employee’s. This wage is increased periodically to compensate for inflation. The minimum wage was intended to be the lowest living wage for individuals and has the obvious benefit of a guaranteed increase in spendable income for unskilled workers. There are, however, a number of problems incurred when a minimum wage is increased.
The national minimum wage is vital to offset such a terrible labor market. The government should minimum wage to reduce poverty to help children's education, unemployed insurance, and hard-working parents (Elise Gould). 3 is the number of times Congress passed legislation to increase the minimum wage in the past 30 years. If the government increases wage it will benefit people who are in poverty or who are in the lower class.
Minimum wage is the lowest wage that an employer is allowed to pay. This wage is regulated by the law, so all workers must follow this rule. According to the book, “Minimum Wages”, the author Neumark, David states, “in 1938, the U.S. Congress passed a federal minimum wage as part of the Fair Labor Standard Act” (Neumark 1). Since that time, the minimum wage has been regulating and controlling by the law. This minimum wage causes a bad effect to the economy because nobody wants to work with low wage. Therefore, the number of people who quit a job has been increasing, and because of this, the unemployment rate is going to be higher. This issue may cause a big impact to our society and economy in the near future.