What is the minimum wage in America?
While deciding when to join the workforce is usually a matter of choice, the United States has strict laws to prevent the exploitation and abuse of children, and to provide every citizen with a livable income. The current minimum hourly wage in America is $5.15, although state governments have the right to set a higher wage.
The concept of a nationwide minimum wage was established under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “New Deal” in 1934 but was not put into practice until 1938, when the Fair Labor Standards Act set the minimum wage at $0.25/hour. Individual states began instituting minimum wage laws at roughly the same time, but not all states were quick to adopt their own measures.
When age limitations began to be discussed, the definition of maturity was a central issue. Donald Mazzella, a historian and editorial director of Small Business Digest, says, at the turn of the 20th century “it was popularly assumed that boys and girls matured and were adults at age 14.”
To this day, the official minimum legal age for employment in most non-agricultural jobs is 14, while other positions require workers to be at least 18. Any employee under 16 is prohibited from working during school hours, and individual states have restrictions for working adolescents. Children of any age may deliver newspapers, work in businesses owned by their parents and perform in movies, theater or television. Most people begin full-time jobs after finishing high school, at age 18, or college, when they’re around 22.