Paying people a monumental $15 dollars per hour for a minimum wage job will cause an economic crash in the United States of America. thefreedictionary.com, defines minimum wage as “the minimum hourly rate of compensation for labor, as established by federal statute and required for employers engaged in businesses that affect interstate commerce.” This essay is being written to better define minimum wage, and how it differs from common misconceptions. Minimum wage affects every single American employee and employer in one way or another. Some people earn minimum wage, and others have their wages set relative to the minimum wage. Minimum wage sets the baseline as the lowest wage an employer can legally pay a worker. Designed for a specific purpose, minimum wage gives a standard to pay people that have the bare minimum skills and can’t do work that is worth anything more than bare minimum wages. Minimum wage represents payment for jobs that anyone can do. No skills are needed, or involved, and it can be accomplished by any able bodied human. Contrary to popular philosophy, minimum wage is not designed to be a wage that can support a full household. The rate determined to be minimum wage has absolutely zero correlation to the rate needed to happily and healthily support a small family. Minimum wage exists solely for the purpose of protecting the rights of workers by providing a minimum hourly rate baseline for minimally skilled occupations. Often times people suggest that