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Minimum Wage Thesis

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Minimum Wage has been the foundation of America’s labor system since 1938. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during The Great Depression in the United States. Since then, it has been an immense law topic that workers, employers, and legislators have been changing and amending for decades.

A wide variety of living standards existed among the workers of the latter part of the nineteenth century and by the end of the 1880’s an annual household income of $550 a year would be necessary for a family of five in a middle-sized industrial town to enjoy any of life’s amenities. The largest group if workers, some forty five percent had incomes precariously above the poverty level. Factory discipline and …show more content…

The full effect of the FLSA was postponed by the advent of the Second World War and the ensuing economic inflation, which lowered wage values below the level outlined in the Act. In October 1949 the Fair Labor Standards Amendment 736 raised the minimum wage from forty to seventy five cents per hour and extended the child labor restrictions. In 1955 it was amended again increasing the minimum wage to one dollar an hour. In 1961 the FLSA was amended to provide enterprise coverage that applies when a business is involved in interstate commerce and it’s gross annual business volume is a minimum of $500,000 per year. The amendment specified that the coverage was automatic for schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other residential care facilities. The minimum wage also increased again to one dollar and twenty-five cents an hour. The last minimum wage increase occurred in 2007when Congress raised the rate in steps from $5.15 an hour that year to $7.25 an hour in July 2009. The District of Columbia and nineteen other states have minimum wages higher than the federal hourly rate. The highest state minimum wage is in Washington State where the rate is $9.19 an hour, the average throughout the Unites States being $7.75 an hour. Over the last sixty-five years the minimum wage has varied in it’s inflation adjusted buying power ranging from a low of $3.09 an hour in late 1948 to a high …show more content…

Until the mid 1990’s labor economists believed that a 10 per cent increase in minimum wage would reduce employment of impacted groups by about 2 per cent. David Card produced a research paper that challenged this conclusion stating that the minimum wage had no adverse effect on employment. This controversial paper caused an explosion of research on the subject and coincided with a number of states raising their minimum wages above the federal level. Two-thirds of the studies came to the same conclusion as before that higher minimum wages reduce the employment of less-skilled workers. Recent studies by Reich, Dub end Allegretto contend that finding negative employment effects can be eliminated when you control for regional trends however, Neumark in his study states that it take application of very specific controls to make these trends go away and that using the more general controls preferred by the majority of economists produces the standard conclusion that minimum wage increases cost

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In the article, “Minimum Wage Hikes Hurt Low-Income Workers,” Jame Sherk debates how an increase in the minimum wage would impact workers and corporations. Sherk builds his argument by first explaining the recent history of an increasing minimum wage and how much it has risen. Following, he argues why it would hurt businesses and low-income workers. Lastly, after illustrating the consequences, he offers statistical evidence to support his claim and to prove to the reader why the hike would only hurt both businesses and low-income workers. Sherk’s use of evidence and explanation offers a strong argument and a clear stance.

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In the last few years, the topic of the minimum wage has been a highly debatable subject. There are numerous perspectives regarding raising the minimum wage. “The concept of the minimum wage can be defined as the minimum amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners for the work performed during a given period,” (ILO,2014). A few of the common disagreements are how unemployment rates will be affected, who will be most affected by a change, and what alternatives are available. In the article “Why the next president should raise the minimum wage” Roger Lowenstein argues that it is his belief that raising the minimum wage will benefit society by reducing unemployment rates and thus reducing the amount of the population living in poverty.

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The Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) was signed into law by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This is the same president to implement the “economic bill of rights”, that included, government cash transfers, the welfare system and social security benefits, and non-cash transfers, such as medical care. Some feel minimum wage protects the rights of unskilled workers, while others feel that minimum wage and minimum wage increases, hurt those that need it most. Inequalities factors includes, the difference in individual abilities, education, discrimination, misfortune, or

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According to the Economic Policy Institute, raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour would boost the incomes of over 35 million Americans which would allow people to not have to live in poverty or rely on government assistance to make ends meet. More than 600 economists, including 7 nobel prize winners wrote a letter to President Obama endorsing an increase in the federal minimum wage, stating that evidence shows that an increase in minimum wage shows no negative effect on job growth, and in fact increases consumer spending and therefore would increase demand and job growth, which disputes the idea that an increase in the minimum wage will lead to higher unemployment and helps to further the argument that a minimum wage increase is not only necessary, but actually healthy for the economy. Furthermore, according to NPR, the 13 states who raised their state mandated minimum wage at the beginning of 2014 all added jobs to their economy at a faster rate than states that did not raise their state mandated minimum wage. This fact disputes the claim made by the Congressional Budget Office in its report in 2014 that stated that raising the minimum wage, even to $10.10 would cost the U.S. economy arond 500,000 jobs. Economic research conducted by the United States Department of Labor and the Center for Economic Policy Research shows that increases in minimum wage sharply reduces employee turnover

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The Minimum Wage: Should it be Raised? In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed the Fair labor Standards Act of 1938. This set the minimum wage for the United States to be $0.25 and a maximum work week of 44 hours (Grossman, n.d.). Since 1938, the federal minimum wage has been raised 22 times averaging a raise of 31 cents every 3.25 years (Bose, n.d.).

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In modern society, one seeks out a job that pays far above minimum wage, simply because one feels it is not sustainable enough for simple needs. Thus, the issue of what price the minimum wage should be comes about. One begins to seek and advocate for a higher minimum payment for a job well done. In 1938, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed a federal document that set the tone for generations to follow, the Fair Labor Statistics Act. This long anticipated document set forth rules regarding a minimum pay requirement for people across the country, setting the national minimum wage at $0.25 an hour with a forty-four hour work week and the banning of cruel child labor, making it the first document of its kind to pass through Congress.

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Minimum Wage and the Issues to Consider Within the United States labor system, the national minimum wage was introduced into law in 1938 during the great depression (History of the United States minimum wage, 2016). The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) law was introduced so that there would be regulation to protect American workers from being exploited and treated unfairly within their working conditions. The purpose of having a federal minimum wage in place is to ensure that the standard cost of living for the necessary essentials can be maintained. To account for inflation, the FLSA is revised every few years to account for the cost of inflation and has also been modified so that individual states can set their rates for minimum wage. From

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When a tree falls in the forest, people wonder if it makes a noise because no one is there to hear it. When a low waged worker who can’t pay his or her bills at the end of the month is crying out of desperation for a change to happen, are they heard? Since 2009 minimum wage workers have been making only $7.25 an hour in the United States (Minimum). Young and old workers everywhere are trying to make it by on this little amount to stay afloat at a living standard cost that keeps rising every year. These workers comprise 59 percent of the U.S. workforce that work hourly waged jobs (Minimum).

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Minimum wage was established in 1938. The minimum wage boosted up in 1968 to $1.60. In 1991 the minimum wage increased to $4.25 an hour. Then in 1997 it went up again to $5.15 an hour. The last time minimum wage was raised was in 2009 to $7.25 an hour.

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The minimum wage in the United States was re-established after the Great Depression in 1938 to .25$ an hour. The federal minimum wage now is $7.25 an hour. However, 29 states have a minimum wage greater than the federal minimum wage (Minimum Wage Laws). President Obama in his State of the Union speech, urged congress to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Obama and his cabinet believe such a bill would support the U.S. economic and people in the lower ladder of society.

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Minimum Wage The minimum wage is known as the lowest wage a worker can be paid, according to rules set either by the local, state, or federal government. Since 1997, the minimum wage has been set as $7.25 per hour of work. However, this does not mean that some companies and/or businesses have been paying their workers more than what is set as the required pay. As simple as it may sound, the topic of minimum wage raises much controversy throughout the nation.

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The Federal minimum wage was first introduced to the United States in 1938 under President Roosevelt to try to curb the effects of the Great Depression. Since then the minimum wage debate has been highly politicalized two sided debate that has a huge implications on America businesses, the labor force and the economy as a whole. Right now the base line pay, federally enforced since 2009 in the U.S.A, is 7.25 an hour. The argument of the minimum value on a labor unit is argued on both moral and economical viewpoints, debating the net good and consequences of raising this rate. One of the loudest arguments in this debate is what would a pay increase due to the overall labor force.

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The first minimum wage was $0.25 in 1938. This would be $3.98 in todays money. It since then has gone up slowly 22 times, fluctuating up and down in todays money. Since 2009 the federal minimum wage has been $7.25. This law came into place with The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA).

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