Minimum wage was first proposed in the early 1900s. The first nation to enact a minimum wage law was New Zealand in 1896; Australia did the same in 1907. Massachusetts was the first state in the Union to enact minimum wage laws that exclusively applied to women and children in 1912.
Although the initial laws were designed to safeguard weaker employees, the minimum wage system would soon spread throughout the world and cover all occupations.
So how has minimum wage changed since the beginning of time? Let’s take a look!
In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 introduced the first federal minimum wage of $0.25 per hour and by 1968 minimum wage rose to $1.60 per hour.
During the 1980’s and 1990’s minimum wage was stuck right around $3.35 per hour but in 1996 it was changed to $5.15 per hour.
In 2012 a movement began to raise the Federal minimum wage to $15. Many people believe that this is sufficient to live on, however that never came to fruition. As of 2024 the Federal minimum wage is only $7.25 per hour. How crazy is that? While this is the Federal baseline, most states have their own minimum wage requirements.
States like California have a minimum wage of $20 per hour, while Wyoming is only at the Federal minimum of $7.25 per hour.