when did minimum wage start in the us
Minimum wage in the United States Minimum wage legislation emerged at the end of the nineteenth century from the desire to end sweated labor which had developed in the wake of industrialization.[17] Sweatshops employed large numbers of women and young workers, paying them what were considered nonliving wages that did not allow workers to afford the necessaries of life.[18] Besides substandard wages, sweating was also associated with long work hours and unsanitary work conditions.[19] From the 1890s to the 1920s, during the Progressive Era, a time of social activists and political reform across the United States, progressive reformers, womenâ€™s organizations, religious figures, academics, and politicians all played an important role in getting state minimum wage laws passed throughout the United States.[20]
Homestead Strike The Homestead strike broke the AA as a force in the American labor movement. Many employers refused to sign contracts with their AA unions while the strike lasted. A deepening in 1889 of the Long Depression led most steel companies to seek wage decreases similar to those imposed at Homestead.[59]
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 29 U.S.C. § 203[1] (abbreviated as FLSA[2]) is a United States labor law that creates the right to a minimum wage, and "time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week.[3][4] It also prohibited most employment of minors in "oppressive child labor".[5] It applies to employees engaged in interstate commerce or employed by an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce,[6] unless the employer can claim an exemption from coverage.
Silver standard Silver certificates continued to be issued until late 1963, when the $1 Federal Reserve Note was released into circulation. For several years, existing silver certificates could be redeemed for silver, but this practice was halted on June 24, 1968.