Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. This is US$9.99/day to US$10.72/day. 1989: Congress changes FLSA so that it applies only to businesses that produce at least $500,000 in revenue, but also mandates that smaller retail businesses are subject to the law as well during any work week in which they either engage in interstate commerce or make goods that will be sold in other states. .table thead th {background-color:#f1f1f1;color:#222;} That invalidates states’ minimum wage laws and limits them to offering advice to employers who can set their own standards. Their demands include a minimum wage that is enough for them to live on. [CDATA[/* >*/. For the average family of two adults and two children in the United States, the living wage is $16.54 per hour, or $68,808 a year. .manual-search ul.usa-list li {max-width:100%;} For the first time, the federal government set a minimum wage and established the principle that people—or at least those covered by the law—are entitled to at least a certain amount of pay for their work. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site. These are roughly equivalent to a range of US$247 to US$2,534. $1.40. 2019: Twenty-nine states and Washington, D.C. maintain higher minimum wages than the federal standard as of 2019, with eight states automatically increasing wages based on the cost of living. The minimum wage listed applies to employers with 21 or more employees. Several states would follow suit over the next two decades, and, in 1938—at the height of the Great Depression—Congress established the first federal minimum wage as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). History of the Minimum Wage. #block-opa-theme-content > div > div.guidance-search > div.csv-feed.views-data-export-feed {display:none;} raising their minimum wages to $15 per hour. 1938: After a legislative struggle, Congress passes the Fair Labor Standards Act, which establishes a federal minimum wage of 25 cents per hour, and the bill is signed into law by President Roosevelt. Roosevelt set the minimum wage at $0.25/hour. Details The National Minimum Wage was introduced on 1 April 1999 and in its 20 year history has transformed the UK’s labour market. .h1 {font-family:'Merriweather';font-weight:700;} The measure affects 29 states while other states already have an equal or superior minimum wage (note that employers are required to pay whichever is the highest: Federal or State). The first minimum wage law in the United States was established in 1912 in the state of Massachusetts. The rates were usually updated every October. @media (max-width: 992px){.usa-js-mobile-nav--active, .usa-mobile_nav-active {overflow: auto!important;}} Effective Date 1938 Act 1 1961 Amendments 2 1966 and Subsequent Amendments 3 ; Oct 24, 1938. 21 and over $0.40 Jan 25, 1950. 1949: Congress raises the federal minimum wage to 75 cents, the first of numerous increases enacted over the next six decades. Meanwhile, wage gains have gone largely to the highest earners. For additional information, visit our Wage-Hour website: http://www.wagehour.dol.gov and/or call our Wage-Hour toll-free information and helpline, available 8am to 5pm in your time zone, 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). 1963: President Kennedy signed into law the Equal Pay Act, which amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to specify that workers covered by the federal minimum wage requirement were also entitled to equal pay for the same job, regardless of gender. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies. In 1937, the Supreme Court of the US upheld Washington’s state minimum wage and stated that the minimum wage did not violate the constitution. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. $1.15. At the time, its factories produced nearly a quarter of the woolen cloth in the United States. The history of minimum wage is about the attempts and measures governments have made to introduce a standard amount of periodic pay below which employers could not compensate their workers. From this point on, the labor movement applied pressure to local, state, and federal governments to raise the minimum wage as high as possible. But the work came at a cost. 1923: In a case called Adkins v. Children's Hospital of D. C., the U.S. Supreme Court rules that imposing a minimum wage violates employers’ and workers’ liberty of contract right under the Fifth Amendment. © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The federal minimum applies to U.S. workers who are employed by companies with revenues of at least $500,000, plus workers in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, government agencies, and those who are involved in interstate commerce in their jobs. The NIRA suspends antitrust restrictions and allows industries to enforce their own fair-trade codes, which raise wages. The history of the minimum wage begins with Franklin D. Roosevelt and the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, which launched a series of guaranteed wages … 1912: The state of Massachusetts enacts the first law in the United States requiring a minimum wage. $1.00 Sep 3, 1963. The following rates were for the National Minimum Wage before the National Living Wage was introduced. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. It was initially set at $0.25 per hour and has been increased by Congress 22 times, most recently in 2009 when it went from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour. Employers who agree get to display a badge of hour, which depicts a blue eagle with the motto, “We Do Our Part.”. 1898: Samuel Gompers, founding president of the American Federation of Labor, publishes an article entitled “A Minimum Living Wage,” in which he advocates not just setting a legal threshold for wages, but also requiring it to be enough for workers to live. One reason that the federal minimum wage provokes continuing controversy is that it doesn’t automatically adjust to the rising cost of living. The minimum wage peaked in 1968 with its highest economic value of $1.60. Furthermore, many states have enacted or proposed legislation to gradually increase the minimum wage by increments over the next several years to reach a specific wage. .manual-search ul.usa-list li {max-width:100%;} History of the United States' Minimum Wage. Washington, DC 20210 The seas for a federal minimum wage were first planted in the industrial city of Lawrence Massachusetts in 1912. 1831: Silk industry workers in Lyon, France go on strike. The site is secure. The minimum wage was conceived as a way to help bolster wageworkers and decrease class stratification. @media only screen and (min-width: 0px){.agency-nav-container.nav-is-open {overflow-y: unset!important;}} It increased the minimum wage on an incremental basis, from $5.85 on July 24, 2007 to $7.25 just two years later. History of the Minimum Wage. Other states soon follow. Samuel Gompers, an early labor leader and founder and president of the American Federation of Labor, circa 1890. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies, History of Changes to the Minimum Wage Law, Severe Storm and Flood Recovery Assistance. The minimum wage in the United States is $7.25 per hour, the 12th highest in the world. In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act that set the minimum wage to 25 cents per hour. During the post-World War II economic boom, the labor movement successfully pushed the federal minimum wage to $1.60/hour in … In cases where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages. In the United States, states and the federal government set minimum hourly pay ("minimum wage") that workers can receive to ensure that citizens experience a minimum quality of life. .usa-footer .grid-container {padding-left: 30px!important;} The first minimum wage stood at 25 cents an hour. Subsequent amendments extended overage to the remaining Federal, State and local government employees who were not protected in 1966, to certain workers in retail and service trades previously exempted, and to certain domestic workers in private household employment. Some state laws provide greater employee protections; employers must comply with both. Since 1938, the U.S. federal government has established that workers are entitled to a base hourly wage. It was the first … That year, President George W. Bush signed into law the Fair Minimum Wage Act to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour in three stages over two years. The US minimum wage, which started at 25 cents in 1938, has been raised by Congress 22 times. The measure affects 29 states while other states already have an equal or superior minimum wage (note that employers are required to pay whichever is the highest: Federal or State). An official website of the United States government. The federal nationwide minimum wage in the United States is US$7.25 per hour. .dol-alert-status-error .alert-status-container {display:inline;font-size:1.4em;color:#e31c3d;} A Brief History of the US Minimum Wage. $1.25 Sep 3, 1964 $1.15 Sep 3, 1965 $1.25 Feb 1, 1967. Minimum Wages in the United States remained unchanged at 7.25 USD/Hour in 2020 from 7.25 USD/Hour in 2019.