The minimum wage dates back to 1938, during the Great Depression, when the stock market crashed and bank loans were failing. Families need an income of some kind, if they wanted to make it fair if individuals could receive equal pay without a college degree. I'll start by briefly telling the history of the minimum wage and how it could help our economy. In 1892 the federal government adopted an 8-hour day and other wage standards for employees. In 1903, Congress created the United States Department of Commerce and Labor. In 1933, Congress passed the National Industrial Recovery Act covering private sector wage hours (Congressional Digest). “On Saturday, June 25, 1938, to avoid pocket vetoes 9 days after Congress adjourned, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed 121 bills. Among these bills was a law critical to the nation's social and economic development: the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938” (Jonathan Grossman, Dol.gov). The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 becomes a basic federal statute regulating minimum wage, working hours, equal pay, and child labor. The minimum wage was set at 0.25 cents an hour (Congressional Digest). Congress could raise the minimum wage if our economic growth was better. Congress simply cannot change the minimum wage overnight. This requires time and also studies to make sure US businesses can afford to pay more. But even now that the minimum wage is only $7.25. Now, somehow, the President and Congress think a low-income family can live on less than $15,080 a year in 2012, according to David and Doug. Minimum wages did not fall above the poverty line until around 1980. But back then the value of a dollar was worth much more. During this time economic growth has expanded, which means more people and not enough jobs... middle of paper... today under better conditions we would earn more than $7.25. But the value of a dollar is no longer worth what it once was. I believe today the minimum wage should be increased because everyone will need to have health insurance because it became a law in 2014. Works CitedCooper, David and Doug Hall. “Raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would give working families, and the economy overall, a much-needed boost.” Np, March 13, 2013. Web. December 1, 2013. “Temporal Evolution of the Fair Work Standard of the Federal Minimum Wage Law.” Congressional Digest. Np, Mar. 2007. Web. Dec. 1, 2013. "Home - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor." Home - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - US Department of Labor. Np, nd Web. December 04, 2013."Rebuilding an economy that works for all of us." Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013. Np, nd Web. 05 December. 2013.