Minimum Wage History

Improved Essays
Minimum Wage and The Worldwide History behind it Worldwide Minimum Wage Laws
New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom are several of the first countries in the world to pass minimum wage acts.
Continuing from them, most countries all around the world have implemented minimum wage laws in some ways or another.

The World’s First Minimum Wage
Way back in the year 1894, New Zealand enforced the world’s first national minimum wage laws. All businesses and all industries across the entire country was covered by this minimum wage law.
Australia, specifically to Victoria, was the second authority in the world to pass minimum wage laws. In the early stages, Victoria’s minimum wage laws only covered particular industries. These laws only

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Minimum wage is a relatively new concept in the labour market. It was created with the idea that minimum wage will be a stepping stone into a better paying job in mind. As the years have gone by, minimum wage jobs have evolved from supporting teenagers and giving them the necessary experience in the work field to supporting families. It’s this change in dynamics that fuels the argument that minimum wage should increase to a living wage. What people fail to realize is that minimum wage exists for a reason and should it be increased; the positive impacts are outweighed by the negative impacts in the economy.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Minimum wage is a standard budget created to provide the American workers protection and fairness. It is what saved American workers during the horrid Great Depression period when everyone seemed to be bankrupted and lost. Federal minimum wage saves workers from being overworked. It was introduced during the 1930s around the time of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a worldwide depression virus that wrecked economies and the stock market ruining thousands of lives.…

    • 1421 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The minimum wage debate has been a disputed topic in the United States for many years since it was first implemented. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill allowing for a federal minimum wage to be set (Grossman 1). 70 years later, many minimum wage workers and other government officials want to implement a 15 dollar per hour minimum wage. While the current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, the negative impact of the economy explains why it should stay that way, if not be reduced or eradicated. In states that have implemented a higher minimum wage, there are already statistics to prove the economic decline.…

    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Texas Minimum Wage Essay

    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Research Question: Historically, how did an increases in minimum wage affect the fast food sector in Texas versus the fast food industry in California from 1990 to 1999? On 1894, New Zealand was the first country to officially establish a national minimum wage and in 1912, Massachusetts was the first state in the United States of America to establish a minimum wage. This idea quickly gained popularity and other states soon passed their own minimum wage laws. In 1938, President Franklin D Roosevelt passed the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was passed which established a federal minimum of $0.25 an hour.…

    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Minimum Wage Arguments

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The minimum wage is a hot button issue in America, especially in California. The minimum wage is the minimum hourly wage an employer can pay an employee for work. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. A law proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown would increase Californians minimum wage from $10.00 an hour to $15.00 an hour. Many including myself believed that increasing the minimum will hurt workers, business, and overall disrupt the economy.…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Raised Minimum Wage

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages

    When the minimum wage was introduced in 1938 with the Fair Labor Standards Act it was met with acclaim. This is because it eliminated underage child labor which was widespread in the 1930’s. It also stated that the minimum wage would increase with inflation inflation the minimum wage would also increase, which it has over the last century. However, aAs of late the minimum wage has not kept pace with…

    • 1046 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Minimum Wage History

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages

    History of Minimum Wage Minimum wage in the United States was founded in the year 1938 in the Great Depression when President Franklin Roosevelt was in office. Minimum wage was set at twenty five cents per hour and was increased by the congress at least twenty two times the most ever since the year 2009. In the year 1890 wages of Americans were a total of $380 which was below the poverty line of $500 per year at the time. America got the idea from looking at examples from Australia and New Zealand who introduced minimum wages in the 1890s. In the year 1912 minimum wage started in Massachusetts and after words elven more states would join the laws of minimum wages that covered women and minors and not men between the years of 1913 and 1917.…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The federal minimum wage has been a controversial matter since 1894 when New Zealand implemented the first ever minimum wage. Soon after, many countries followed in their footsteps. Although the federal minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 according to the Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA), states have the ability to lower or raise that number by their minimum wage laws. In…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1938 the United States Congress enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act. Most jobs in the United States are regulated by this act for minimum wage, hourly regulations, and overtime rates. The Federal Minimum wage, enabled by the Fair Labor Standards Act, in the United States is $7.25. Although this is the minimum wage, 29 states and Washington D.C have a higher minimum wage than the federal minimum wage (State Minimum Wage). Small businesses and large corporations alike, along with the economy, would be affected by the rise of minimum wage.…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The minimum wage is the lowest wage permitted by law to be paid to a working individual. It creates a standard by which everyone is guaranteed to be paid for their work. In America, working at the minimum wage is also a sure guarantee that you are a part of the minority working class. The minimum wage has at different times been a common practice in certain parts of the world for centuries, it wasn’t however until 1938 that the Fair Labor Act was passed in America, establishing a minimum wage in the American workforce. In an effort to lessen oppressive child labor and exploitation of workers, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the act which set the current minimum wage to 25¢ and regulated child labor.…

    • 1102 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At first, mandatory minimum wages were ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court. They stated that it would “restrict the worker’s rights to set the price of his own labor” (Federal and State Minimum Wage Rates for 2018). With the lack of regulations and rules, employers forced thousands of day-laborers to work in horrible conditions for mere pennies a day. These conditions included sweatshops, factories, and unsafe working environments. Children were also forced to work.…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Minimum Wage Thesis

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Minimum wage was established in the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, which is defined as the lowest payment that an employee can receive for labor. Throughout the years, it has been a highly controversial and debated topic among the U.S government and citizens. Minimum wage was originally intended to aid in reducing poverty and provide for a decent standard living. However, it has raised over the years as lifestyles became more expensive, resulting with several pressing issues. Raising minimum wage is ineffective in reducing poverty, and would only stagnant its economic and political growth.…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Essay On Minimum Wages

    • 1520 Words
    • 7 Pages

    It is from this background that governments intervene by setting minimum wages so as to protect laborers from exploitation…

    • 1520 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Abstract Minimum wage in my opinion is a staple of the United States economy. It was first used in the United States in nineteen thirty-eight, and at that time the minimum wage was twenty-five cents, which at the time had the same value as four dollars now (Department). The guidelines it provides helps to keep pour economy running, but it doesn’t benefit everyone. The lack of unity between states when it comes to this economical aspect is a critical factor in determining the wellbeing of the United States citizens. Overview…

    • 1617 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Minimum wage is described as the lowest price which workers can sell their labor and the lowest price which employers can pay their workers. In the United States, raising the minimum wage has become a prominent economic and social issue. The social class divide seems to be getting larger and a stagnant minimum wage is not a solution to income inequality in the United States. There are many proponents and opponents of the issue today, with both sides presenting strong arguments to successfully justify their positions. For the most part leading economic experts are torn, they have discovered evidence to support both sides of the issue.…

    • 1141 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays