An interesting fact, the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 turned seven years old on Sunday, July 24th. But how does our young one compare with the rest of its class? In other words, is it top of the class, bottom of the class, or floating around in the middle? According to CNN Money the U.S. was ranked 11th out of 27 developed countries that have a nationwide minimum wage. Australia comes in first, followed by Luxembourg, Belgium, Ireland, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom. Interestingly enough, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Austria, Switzerland and Italy are not listed because they have no federal rules on minimum wages. That does not mean that their workers are low paid. In fact, many of these nations are known for paying relatively high wages because of the strength of unions. So the federal government does not feel the need to intervene to protect workers.
If we took into account the state or local minimum wage rates our ranking would increase since many states as well as local cities and counties have increased the minimum wage far above $7.25 per hour. But you would still have to take into account those states who have no minimum wage such as Alabama or Mississippi or those that are below the federal minimum wage such as Wyoming which is still at $5.15 per hour. So there are those who are calling for the federal minimum wage to be raised. Historically this is usually a bipartisan issue. Since 1938 when the minimum wage was created it has been raised 10 times under both republican and democratic presidents. It started out at $.25 per hour under FDR, rose to $1.00 per hour under Eisenhower in 1956, to $1.15 an hour under Kennedy, $1.60 an hour under Nixon, $3.35 an hour under Reagan, $3.80 an hour under George H.W. Bush, $5.85 an hour under George W. Bush and finally to its present level of $7.25 under Obama. But what is amazing is that its buying power has really varied over the years. For example, under Nixon it had the buying power of $9.28 in 1970 if comparing it to 2012 prices. But it has fallen over 25% since then.
So should we increase the minimum wage on the federal level or not? If yes, by how much? These are questions that will weigh heavy on the upcoming election. But there is wide-spread support. A Hart Research Associate poll in 2015 showed most Americans (75%) support an increase in the federal minimum wage up to $12.50 per hour. 53% of those in the poll identified themselves are registered republicans. In addition, according to the federal Department of Labor, support is high for increasing the minimum wage even among business owners. A survey of 1,000 executives was conducted by LuntzGlobal which is run by a republican pollster. The survey results were leaked to a liberal watchdog group called Center for Media and Democracy. It appears that 80% of respondents supported raising their state’s minimum wage.
So happy 7th birthday to our federal minimum wage! But will it see 10? Who knows?