The Minimum Wage is Born

The Minimum Wage

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     A minimum wage is the lowest rate at which a worker legally can be paid for their labor in the United States.
     . Labor is a broad term but basically it means doing another’s work for a fee. The Minimum Wage Law is the law of the land. Violators can be prosecuted for not paying a minimum wage.

Who sets it?

     The U.S. minimum wage rate is set by the United States Labor Department under authority provided by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FSLA). It was created after the Great Depression of the 1930s. It established a national minimum wage and prohibited employment of minors to stop child labor. Currently the minimum wage rate is $7.25 per hour. 

What is the point?

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In part, the purpose of the FLSA was to establish a minimum wage rate and to limit the number of hours worked for a standard week. During the Great Depression, it was widely felt workers were being exploited for cheap labor by their employers.

The current poster child for a minimum wage job is the Wal-Mart greeter. A Wal-Mart greeter starting pay is $7.25 per hour. Today. there are numerous examples of low paid workers. At full-time employment, these jobs cannot provide a basic standard of living.

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