what is minimum wage in the united states
Minimum wage in the United States The minimum wage in the United States is set by US labor law and a network of state, and local laws. Employers generally must pay workers the highest minimum wage prescribed by federal, state, and local law. As of July 2016, the federal government mandates a nationwide minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. As of October 2016, there are 29 states with a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum. From 2014 to 2015, nine states increased their minimum wage levels through automatic adjustments, while increases in 11 other states occurred through referendum or legislative action. In real terms, the federal minimum wage peaked near $10.00 per hour in 1968, using 2014 inflation-adjusted dollars.[1]
Minimum wage in the United States Minimum wage legislation emerged at the end of the nineteenth century from the desire to end sweated labor which had developed in the wake of industrialization.[17] Sweatshops employed large numbers of women and young workers, paying them what were considered nonliving wages that did not allow workers to afford the necessaries of life.[18] Besides substandard wages, sweating was also associated with long work hours and unsanitary work conditions.[19] From the 1890s to the 1920s, during the Progressive Era, a time of social activists and political reform across the United States, progressive reformers, womenâ€™s organizations, religious figures, academics, and politicians all played an important role in getting state minimum wage laws passed throughout the United States.[20]