What is the lowest minimum wage has ever been?
In 1938 the Fair Labor Standards Act established it at $0.25 an hour ($4.60 in 2020 dollars). Its purchasing power peaked in 1968 at $1.60 ($11.91 in 2020 dollars).
What happens to the quantity supplied of labor when governments establish a minimum wage?
Two things happen when the government imposes a minimum wage: The amount of labor hired in the market decreases. In our example, the number of unskilled workers employed decreases from 1,000 to 800. Thus while those who have jobs earn a higher wage, there are now some individuals who no longer have jobs.
What happens if state minimum wage is lower than federal?
If a state has no minimum wage law or its minimum wage is lower than the federal law, workers are entitled to the federal wage. If a state’s minimum wage is higher than the federal one, workers are entitled to the state-specific wage. Higher minimum wages are most common in states with higher costs of living.
Would raising the minimum wage reduce public assistance expenditures?
A report by David Cooper of the Economic Policy Institute, titled Balancing Paychecks and Public Assistance: How Higher Wages Would Strengthen What Government Can Do, finds that raising the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2020 would reduce public assistance expenditures by $17 billion annually.
How many people make less than the minimum wage?
In total, 1.6 million workers earned wages at or below the current federal minimum wage of $7.25. Those who earn the minimum wage or less are young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about 20\% of hourly paid workers, they made up about 40\% of those paid the federal minimum wage or less.
How many states have minimum wage laws in 2021?
A state doesn’t have to have a minimum wage law, but as of 2021, 29 states and Washington, D.C., did. A state with its own law can make the wage lower, equal to or higher than the federal minimum wage. Federal minimum wage overrides state if the state wage is lower.