This document discusses the minimum wage in the United States. It provides details on the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act which established the first federal minimum wage of $0.25 per hour and set the maximum work week at 44 hours. The document outlines both pros and cons of raising the minimum wage. The pros discussed are that raising the minimum wage could boost economic recovery and consumer spending. The cons discussed are that raising the minimum wage could cause job losses, especially among young and less skilled workers. The document concludes that 91% of people intuitively agree that the minimum wage should be increased and indexed to inflation.

1. WHAT YEAR ARE WE IN
A socioeconomic lesson for the present

2. 1938 FLSA
 Fair Labor Standards Act
1. Banned oppressive child labor
2. Set the minimum hourly wage at 25 cents
3. Set the maximum workweek at 44 hours

3. F.D.R.
“Do not let any calamity-howling executive with an income of $1,000
a day, ...tell you...that a wage of $11 a week is going to have a
disastrous effect on all American industry.”
• President Roosevelt

4. WEALTH DISTRIBUTION
I couldn‟t have said it better

5. MINIMUM WAGE
Pros
 Raising minimum wage is a critical priority for accelerating
economic recovery
 Raising the minimum wage will put more money in the pockets of
workers who most need to spend those dollars
 It will boost consumer spending at local businesses

6. MINIMUM WAGE
Pros (cont..)
 Higher wages also benefit businesses by boosting employee
productivity, retention and customer satisfaction, and reducing the
high costs of employee turnover
 Increasing the minimum wage will reduce the strain on our social
safety net caused by inadequate wages

7. MINIMUM WAGE
Cons
 A 10 percent hike in the minimum wage causes a 2.5 percent drop
in employment among young white men without a high school
diploma and a staggering 6.5 percent drop among young black
men without that degree
 Raising minimum wages benefits some workers but harms the
least employable job seekers

8. MINIMUM WAGE
Cons (Cont.)
 The typical minimum-wage employee is young, with few skills and
little or no job experience. Half are under age 25, and a quarter
haven‟t completed high school. Fifty-nine percent are working
part-time
 First-time workers face the biggest risk of being priced out of the
job market by a minimum wage hike

9. PRODUCTION

10. DISTRIBUTION

11. CONTRIBUTIONS

12. PROFITABILITY

13. 91% AGREE INSTICTIVELY
 Minimum wage should be increased and then indexed to inflation
so its value does not shrink in the future as the cost of living rises
 Increased wealth in the poor and middle class creates jobs bringing
consumers into new market segments
 Tax breaks to small business and offset the initial wage increase

14. FYI
…No, Nancy Pelosi, Star-Kist Tuna (Del Monte Foods) is not consider
small business. (3.82 B; #113 on Forbes „America‟s Largest Private
Companies‟
 In January, 2007 when the minimum wage was increased from $5.15 to
$7.25, Pelosi had American Samoa exempted from the increase so Del
Monte would not have to pay the higher wage. Pelosi added an
earmark to the final bill adding $33 million dollars for an 'economic
development credit in American Samoa'.