By Andrew Bloomenthal
Investopedia, January 02, 2024
The federal minimum wage for nonexempt employees in the United States is $7.25 as of 2024. It's meant to be a living wage but this isn’t the case in practice. The hourly rate hasn’t kept up with the cost of living since 1970. ...
The minimum wage has been a political issue since its inception. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in 1933, five years before the first minimum wage became law, that “...by living wages, I mean more than a bare subsistence level—I mean the wages of a decent living.” ...
Groups such as Small Business Majority, Main Street Alliance, and Business for a Fair Minimum Wage support a higher wage, believing that it will inspire employee loyalty and boost workplace morale. This would lead to more satisfied customers and an increase in consumer spending. [See Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. "Resources."] ...