Introduction
The minimum wage is the least amount that an employer is legally obliged to pay a worker at an hourly rate or a monthly rate. Minimum wage laws were put in place to combat worker exploitation in sweatshops and to help low-income families meet their basic requirements like food, water, and security. There is a big debate around the concept of minimum wage, with its supporters arguing that it increases standards of living and reduces poverty and inequality while having an overall net benefit for the economy as peoples purchasing power increases. Dissenters argue that it makes the cost of labor too expensive and forces businesses to raise prices and lay off workers, contributing to poor economic performance.
The rate of minimum wage varies from country to country, and within the U.S, from state to state. This variation is due to annual incremental increases by governments upon determining the lowest livable wage, while others stay fixed.
If you want to learn more about minimum wage by country, please refer to the data in the charts.
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