Minimum Wage

The concept of a minimum wage stirs quite a bit of debate across the web. There are blogs and websites like The Minimum Wage who support the idea of a minimum wage and would like to see a "stronger federal minimum wage." The idea being that people need to be paid a reasonable amount for their labor.

There are also those who are against the idea of a minimum wage altogether, and those who would like to repeal it. The reasoning being that wages are an agreement between employee and employer that does not benefit from government interference.

Regardless of where you stand on the issue, it's easy to agree that there are a lot of emotional arguments involved. Many would argue that people need a living wage. Others argue that families living on minimum wage need to make more money to survive. Amidst all of the emotion, there is limited discussion and analysis of the usefulness of the minimum wage.

Basic facts about minimum wage can't be ignored, no matter what your viewpoint might be. The requirement to pay minimum wage was started in 1947 at a little less than 50 cents per hour, and roughly 60 years later, it reached about $5.50 per hour. Many groups of employees are exempt from coverage, and it's mainly used by young entry level employees as supported by data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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