The History of The Minimum Wage — The Law Written to Leave Most Workers Out

#MinimumWage #LaborHistory #wagegap ⚖️ The federal minimum wage clears the poverty line by twenty dollars a year — and that's not a bug. The law was written from day one to exclude the workers who needed it most. In this episode of Mint Lore, we trace the minimum wage's real story: from New Zealand sheep shearers who couldn't pay rent in 1894, through the racial exclusions baked into the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, to the tipped sub-minimum frozen at $2.13 since 1991, and finally to the seventeen-year federal freeze that leaves full-time workers below the cost of a one-bedroom apartment. Along the way: a chambermaid's $216 lawsuit that made wage floors constitutional, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire that killed 146 workers but didn't establish a minimum wage, and a lobbying deal that permanently decoupled tipped pay from the regular minimum. If you've ever wondered why the richest country in the world pays its lowest-paid workers less than every other G7 nation, this is the story behind the number on the paycheck. ✨ In this video: • How wage laws spent four centuries keeping pay DOWN before New Zealand flipped the concept in 1894 • The 1907 Harvester case that defined a living wage by counting the cost of boots for a family of five • Why the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act deliberately excluded 65% of Black workers through occupational carve-outs • Frances Perkins — the woman who watched Triangle workers fall — drafting the law Congress tried to kill twice • The Supreme Court battles from Adkins to West Coast Hotel that nearly ended wage regulation permanently • How the minimum wage peaked in 1968 and has lost purchasing power for five decades straight • The $2.13 tipped minimum wage frozen since 1991 — and the 84% wage-theft violation rate in restaurants • The Fight for $15 movement that started with 200 workers in New York City and raised wages for 26 million If you enjoy economic history, labor documentaries, and deep dives into how policy shapes inequality, hit subscribe and stick around for more. 📌 Tell us in the comments: Which detail surprised you most — the racial exclusions written into the original law, or the tipped minimum wage frozen for 35 years? #MinimumWage #LaborHistory #WageGap #FairLaborStandardsAct #FLSA #TippedWage #FightFor15 #FrancesPerkins #EconomicHistory #WageInequality #LaborRights #MoneyHistory #WorkersRights #MintLore