Government Influence on National Minimum Wage

As of July 24, 2007 the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has increased the federal minimum wage to $5.85/hr . This is a step in the right direction, but seeing that thirty states have had to raise their minimum wage over that, it obviously says that there is still much work to be done. In states that have a lower minimum wage or no minimum wage at all there is a higher poverty level than in the states that have raised the minimum wage. For example Georgia has an hourly wage of $5.15/hr, it also has a poverty level of 14.4% of the population under the federal poverty line
This shows how Georgia needs to raise their minimum wage to counter the cost of living wage there. In Missouri the minimum wage is $6.50/hr , and their poverty level is 11.5% , that’s a whole 2.9% less than Georgia! The rule of thumb is that if you raise a minimum wage anywhere companies won’t hire as many people and the unemployment rates with go up, but that’s not true. In Georgia the unemployment rate is 4.7% , but in Missouri it is 4.4% . It may only be .3% less, but at least it’s something. If this is something you wish to talk to your State legislator about here is a website where you can find your state legislator to get their contact information.
Another thing that could be done is that the federal government could make the state governments pay at least the federal minimum wage, and increase it as the federal one increases. For now the plan is for the federal minimum wage to go up seventy cents every year until the year 2009 when it will hit $7.25/hr. This would allow states who have wages about the federal minimum keep their wages, but the states which don’t must raise them. Also the federal government could cover more people with the FLSA. Currently, some people that are not covered by it are teachers, fishermen, newspaper delivery men, and many more. There are also a number of professions that are partially exempt also . All these professions could be put under the wing of the FLSA, and maybe more people will pick up jobs that require not as much training as a job that would pay well.