Looking at minimum wage
Minimum wage is a problem that
has always been an issue for the
poor and the middle class. For
teens, this issue is affecting
them the most; some receive
below minimum wage, which
doesnt help them because they
need money to provide and care
for themselves. Heres some
background on how this whole
situation began.
The very first minimum wage
approved by the federal
government was in 1938 during
the term of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt (during the Great
Depression). It was initially about
25 cents per hour and ever since
then, its been changed 22 times
by Congress. As of right now, 2.5
million workers earn minimum
wage or below.
People wanting minimum wage
to be raised believe that $7.25
per hour is too low for anyone to
live on and believe if it
increases, it will create jobs and
help grow the economy. They
also believe this is one of the
main reasons why there is
inequality between low and
middle income workers, thus
they believe this is why most
Americans support increasing
the minimum wage.
Opponents going against raising
minimum wage say many
businesses cant afford this kind
of change because they may not
be able to pay workers and
theyll be forced to close their
businesses, lay-off workers, or
stop hiring. In 1890 the salary of
an average American was $380
annually, which was well below
the poverty line of $500 per year.
As a result, a movement called
Progressivism began to
improve American working
conditions and wages.
It succeeded and the nation
introduced the first state
minimum laws in 1912, starting
with Massachusetts. Eleven
more states began to enforce
these laws after sometime later,
which covered women and
children, but not men (1913-17).
While men, past and present
earn a lot and rely on the
protection of unions, women and
minors don't get the same. They
couldn't get contracts and they
had very low wages. Women
even sold their body to earn
money (earned minimum wage
later on to live in an adequate
standard that doesn't need male
workforce).
In 1913 Oregon had a minimum
wage legislation that enforced a
weekly wage of $8.25 for
experienced women, $6 for
inexperienced women and girls
16-18. Some earned a higher
rate if they worked in Portland.
The NIRA (National Industrial
Recovery Act), signed by
President Roosevelt, was the
actual first piece to attempt to
establish a federal minimum
wage. Then 14 states agreed to
this and went with the federal
minimum wage.
The five states of Alabama,
Louisiana, Mississippi, South
Carolina, and Tennessee are the
only ones that don't have
minimum wage legislation, but
they are required to pay at least
$7.25 an hour. As of last year, 30
cities and counties have adopted
to enforce a higher minimum
wage than the expectation. Over
last year, the highest minimum
wage is $14.44 an hour in
Emerycille, Calif., but now there
are laws that don't allow cities or
counties to make their own
minimum wages.
In 2009 the minimum wage was
$7.25 per hour. Back then, there
were multiple attempts to raise
the wage, but were
unsuccessful. The two best
efforts were the Harkin-Miller
proposal that wanted to raise the
wage to $10.10 (supported by
Obama) and the Living Wage
Movement that wanted the wage
to be $15 (both were
unsuccessful).
The Living Wage Movement was
established in 1990s and it
stated that people who work full
time earn enough to support
themselves and their families
without any help from welfare or
programs. According to a 2015
poll by CBS and New York
Times, 71 percent of people like
the idea of $10.10 an hour and
26 percent opposed. People
being in favor for the increase of
minimum wage has been over
70 percent since 1994.
In the 1930s there were two
acts; The Public Contracts Act
(PCA) and The Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA). The PCA
covered workers making goods
under federal contracts
amounting to approximately
$10,000. The FLSA was
established in 1938; it set a
national wage of 25 cents per
hour on a 44-45 workweek and
prohibited children to work
forcibly or harshly by owners.
By 1932 minimum wage laws in
six states had been rejected and
deemed unfair. By mid-1941
about 26 states all had minimum
wage laws. Technically, many
people earn minimum wage, but
here are the statistics for who
really earns the federal minimum
wage: 2.5 million workers over
16 and older earned at or below
the minimum wage of $7.25 per
hour, according to the U.S.
Department of Labor of 2015-16;
this includes full-time students.
In 2015, 55 percent of workers
that earn the average minimum
wage or below were 25 years
old. 63 percent were women (58
percent are working part time);
73 percent of these minimum
wage workers were white; about
20 percent were African
American; 18 percent were
Hispanic or Latino, and 4
percent were Asian. Most
teens/early 20s made up the 50
percent of workers in food
preparation and serving
occupations.