History of the minimum wage#Great Britain

New Zealand enacted the first national minimum wage laws in 1894 by the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, which, unlike the wages board of Victoria, established arbitration boards to enforce compulsory arbitration.

In 1896, the Colony of Victoria amended the Factories and Shops Act to create a wages board.{{cite book|last=Charles Henry Verrill|first=Charles Henry Verrill|title=Minimum-wage Legislation in the United States and Foreign Countries Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics: Miscellaneous series|year=1915|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=105|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PRoEAAAAYAAJ&q=factory+act+1896+minimum+wage&pg=PA168}} The wages board did not set a universal minimum wage; rather it set basic wages for six industries that were considered to pay low wages.{{cite book|last=Starr|first=Gerald|title=Minimum wage fixing : an international review of practices and problems|year=1993|publisher=International Labour Office|location=Geneva|isbn=9789221025115|page=[https://archive.org/details/minimumwagefixin0000star/page/1 1]|url=https://archive.org/details/minimumwagefixin0000star/page/1|edition=2nd impression (with corrections)|url-access=registration}} First enacted as a four-year experiment, the wages board was renewed in 1900 and made permanent in 1904; by that time it covered 150 different industries.Waltman, Jerold. "The Politics of the Minimum Wage." University of Illinois Press. 2000

By 1902, other Australian jurisdictions, such as New South Wales and Western Australia, had also formed wages boards.

In 1907, the Harvester decision was handed down in Australia. It introduced the influential idea of a 'living wage' for a man, his wife, and three children to "live in frugal comfort".

In 1912, the Industrial Arbitration Act of South Australia provided at section 22 that:

The Court shall not have power to order or prescribe wages which do not secure to the employee affected a living wage. "Living wage" means a sum sufficient for the normal and reasonable needs of the average employee living in the locality where the work under consideration is done or is to be done.

Following that law, the South Australian Industrial Court would periodically declare what a living wage was in South Australia, as follows:

On 14 December 2005, the Australian Fair Pay Commission was established under the Workplace Relations Amendment (WorkChoices) Act 2005. The responsibility of the commission includes the setting of the standard federal minimum wage,{{cite web | title=fairpay.gov.au - About the Commission | work=Australian Fair Pay Commission | url=http://www.fairpay.gov.au/fairpay/About/ | accessdate=2007-07-05 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630151611/http://www.fairpay.gov.au/fairpay/About/ | archivedate=2007-06-30 }} replacing the role of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission that took submissions from a variety of sources to determine appropriate minimum wages.

The Australian Fair Pay Commission was replaced by Fair Work Australia in 2010, later renamed the Fair Work Commission.{{cite web|title=Australian Labor Party : Federal Labor's New Independent Industrial Umpire: Fair Work Australia |url=http://www.alp.org.au/media/0407/msirloo260.php |work=Australian Labor Party |accessdate=2008-07-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401091155/http://www.alp.org.au/media/0407/msirloo260.php |archivedate=April 1, 2008 }}

{{Further|Trade Boards Act 1909|Trade Boards Act 1918|Wages Councils Act 1945|UK labour law}}

The minimum wage was a major factor in British industrial relations from 1909 until the 1930s.{{cite book|title=Minimum Wage Policy in Great Britain and the United States|author=J.L. Waltman|date=2008|publisher=Algora Pub.|isbn=9780875866024|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7mFYK6gahEUC&pg=PA63|pages=63–92}}

After a study of the minimum wage laws in Australia and New Zealand the Liberal Party acted to set up a minimum wage in the most heavily sweated or underpaid industries, as part of a broad range of social reforms. Winston Churchill, president of the Board of Trade, introduced the Trade Boards Act in 1909. It created boards that set minimum wage criteria that were legally enforceable. The main provision was to set minimum wages in certain trades with the history of low wages, because of surplus of available workers, the presence of women workers, or the lack of skills. At first it applied to four industries: chain-making, ready-made dresses, paper-box making, and the machine-made lace and finishing trade. About 70 per cent of their 200,000 workers were women.Sheila Blackburn, "Ideology and social policy: the origins of the Trade Boards Act." The Historical Journal 34#1 (1991): 43-64.

Coal mining was added in 1912, after a major strike. In 1913, five additional wage boards were set up that covered hollow ware making, shirt making, sugar confectionery and food preserving, tin box making, and linen and cotton embroidery, along with a portion of the laundry industry. These extensions covered an additional 140,000 workers. Unions pushed for the 1918 Act to greatly extend the coverage of minimum wages.Roderick Floud and Paul Johnson, eds. The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain, volume 2: Economic Maturity, 1860–1939 (2004) pp 311-21. In 1917, "Whitley councils" or Joint Industrial Councils were established in 41 industries with over 2 million employees to bring together unions and management to discuss not only wages and conditions but also a wide range of related issues such as jobs, security, benefits and technical education.{{cite book|author=Earl Joyce Miller |title=Workmen's representation in industrial government|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qgEoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA414|year=1924|publisher=University of Illinois studies in the social sciences; v. 10, no. 3-4 |pages=414–28}}

Starting in 1909, Liberals, led especially by David Lloyd George, promoted the idea of a minimum wage for farm workers. Resistance of landowners was strong, but success was achieved by 1924.Alun Howkins and Nicola Verdon. "The state and the farm worker: the evolution of the minimum wage in agriculture in England and Wales, 1909–24." Agricultural history review 57.2 (2009): 257-274. According to Robin Gowers and Timothy J. Hatton, the impact In England and Wales was significant. They estimate that it raised wages for farm labourers by 15 per cent by 1929, and by more than 20 per cent in the 1930s. It reduced the employment of such labourers by 54,000 (6.5 per cent) in 1929 and 97,000 (13.3 per cent) in 1937. They say, "The minimum wage lifted out of poverty many families of farm labourers who remained employed, but it significantly lowered the incomes of farmers, particularly during the 1930s."Robin Gowers and Timothy J. Hatton,, "The origins and early impact of the minimum wage in agriculture." Economic History Review 50#1 (1997): 82-103.

By the 1920s, a new perspective was offered by reformers emphasising the usefulness of Family Allowance (later renamed "Child Benefit") targeted at low-income families to relieve poverty without distorting the labour market.John Macnicol, Movement for Family Allowances, 1918-45: A Study in Social Policy Development (1980). The trade unions and the Labour Party adopted this view. In 1945, family allowances were introduced; minimum wages faded from view. Talk resumed in the 1970s, with an agricultural minimum wage remaining, but in the 1980s the Thatcher administration made it clear it would not accept a national minimum wage. Finally, with the return of Labour, the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 set a minimum of £3.60 per hour, with lower rates for younger workers. It largely affected workers in high turnover service industries such as fast food restaurants, and members of ethnic minorities.Pat Thane, Cassell's Companion to Twentieth Century Britain (2002) pp 267-68.

In 1912, the state of Massachusetts, United States, set minimum wages for women and children, and some states enacted similar protective laws.Folbre, Nancy, Greed, Lust and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2009 ({{ISBN|978-0-19-923842-2}})), p. 276 & n. 37 (author prof. economics, Univ. of Mass. Amherst). Under the Massachusetts laws, there was "the power only to investigate conditions and recommend changes".{{cite news |title=Both sides a debate: Minimum wage legislation |url=https://archive.org/stream/independen79v80newy#page/409/mode/1up |newspaper=The Independent |date=Dec 14, 1914 |accessdate=July 24, 2012}}

{{blockquote|It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.|author=President Franklin Delano Roosevelt |source=1933, [http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/odnirast.html Statement] on National Industrial Recovery Act.{{cite news |last=Tritch |first=Teresa |title=F.D.R. Makes the Case for the Minimum Wage |url=http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/f-d-r-makes-the-case-for-the-minimum-wage/ |date=March 7, 2014 |work=New York Times |accessdate=March 7, 2014 }}}}

In the United States, statutory minimum wages were first introduced nationally in 1938 by president Franklin D. Roosevelt.{{cite web |author= Sanjiv Sachdev |title= Raising the rate: An evaluation of the uprating mechanism for the minimum wage |publisher= Employee Relations |year= 2003 |url= }}{{ cite web| url = http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/pay/national-minimum-wage/History-National-Minimum-Wage/page12572.html| date = 17 June 2006| title = History of the National Minimum Wage| work = Employment Matters| publisher = United Kingdom Department of Trade and Industry| accessdate = 2006-06-22| url-status = dead| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060619155233/http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/pay/national-minimum-wage/History-National-Minimum-Wage/page12572.html| archivedate = 19 June 2006}} Note: Date enacted was 1 April 1999

In addition to the federal minimum wage, nearly all states within the United States have their own minimum wage laws with the exception of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee.[http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm DOL WHD: Minimum Wage Laws in the States] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625194442/http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm |date=2007-06-25 }} Twenty-nine states have a minimum wage that is higher than the federal minimum wage.[http://www.minimum-wage.us Minimum Wage Rates in the United States]

In 1930, Getúlio Vargas established a minimum wage in Brazil with a new set of work laws

In Mexico, the Constitution of 1917 decreed that "there shall be a minimum wage," but no enabling legislation was enacted until President Abelardo L. Rodríguez began pushing for it in August 1933. The minimum wage in Mexico was signed into law later that year, taking effect on 1 January 1934.{{cite web |last1=Cornejo |first1=Roberto |title=History Of Minimum Wage In Mexico |url=https://start-ops.com.mx/minimum-wage-in-mexico/#elementor-toc__heading-anchor-6 |website=Start-Ops |access-date=9 February 2025}}

In the 1960s, minimum wage laws were introduced into Latin America as part of the Alliance for Progress; however these minimum wages were, and are, low.{{cite book| last =Bethell| first =Leslie| date =June 29, 1990| title =The Cambridge History of Latin America| publisher =Cambridge University Press| isbn =0-521-24518-4 }} p. 342.

In the European Union, 21 member states currently have national minimum wages.Eurostat (2006): Minimum Wages 2006 - Variations from 82 to 1503 euro gross per month[http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-NK-06-009/EN/KS-NK-06-009-EN.PDF (PDF)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623171442/http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-NK-06-009/EN/KS-NK-06-009-EN.PDF |date=2007-06-23 }} Many countries, such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Cyprus have (or had) no minimum wage laws, but rely on employer groups and trade unions to set minimum earnings through collective bargaining.Ehrenberg, Ronald G. Labor Markets and Integrating National Economies, Brookings Institution Press (1994), p. 41

In July 2014 Germany began {{cite web|title=Minimum Wage Act in Germany with effect from 01-01-2015|url=http://www.mayer-kuegler.de/#!minimum-wages-law-germany/mov20|website=Dr. Mayer & Kügler Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB - Arbeitsrecht|publisher=Lawyer Michael Kügler|accessdate=31 January 2016}} legislating to introduce a federally mandated minimum wage law, the Gesetz zur Regelung eines allgemeinen Mindestlohns (Mindestlohngesetz - MiLoG) (unofficial translation: "Act Regulating a General Minimum Wage (Minimum Wage Act)"),Provided by Ute Reusch, juris GmbH Saarbrücken which came into effect on 1 January 2015.{{cite news|title=Germany may become 22nd EU state with federal minimum wage|url=http://www.germanynews.net/index.php/sid/223558107/scat/0b761d844c35f1be/ht/Germany-may-become-22nd-EU-state-with-federal-minimum-wage|accessdate=7 July 2014|publisher=Germany News.Net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714163733/http://www.germanynews.net/index.php/sid/223558107/scat/0b761d844c35f1be/ht/Germany-may-become-22nd-EU-state-with-federal-minimum-wage|archive-date=14 July 2014|url-status=dead}} The minimum wage is set at €8.50 per hour. A French law passed in the National Assembly on 17 February 2015 and effective from the end of 2015 imposed statutory minimum wage regulations on foreign truck drivers plying international routes to and from France and undertaking cabotage in the country.Lloyds Loading List, [http://www.lloydsloadinglist.com/freight-directory/news/France-imposes-minimum-wage-on-foreign-truck-drivers/61752.htm#.V6VqrtGV_IU France imposes minimum wage on foreign truck drivers], published 18 February 2015, accessed 6 August 2016

The European Commission introduced an infringement procedure against France and Germany on 19 May 2015, arguing that the application of these laws in the transport sector had a disproportionately restrictive impact on the freedom to provide services and the free movement of goods, two of the principal freedoms on which the European Union is based.European Commission, [http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5003_en.htm Transport: Commission launches infringement case on the application of the German Minimum Wage law to the transport sector], published 19 May 2015, accessed 11 February 2016 On 16 June 2016 the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to the French authorities on this subject and issued a supplementary letter to the German authorities, initiating two months' notice of potential legal action.European Commission, [http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-2101_en.htm Press Release: Transport: Commission takes legal action against the systematic application of the French and German minimum wage legislation to the transport sector], accessed 6 August 2016

In May 2014, Switzerland was overwhelmingly defeated in a referendum concerning a proposal to set the minimum wage at 22 Swiss francs ($25), which would have given the country the world's highest minimum wage.{{cite news|title=Swiss voters reject world's highest minimum wage proposal|url=http://www.switzerlandnews.net/index.php/sid/222128729/scat/ed0dcae976801452/ht/Swiss-voters-reject-worlds-highest-minimum-wage-proposal|accessdate=May 21, 2014|publisher=Switzerland News.Net}}

• Barriers to entry
• Labour law
• Minimum wage
• Training wage

{{reflist|2}}

• [http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/minimumwage.htm Federal Minimum Wage]. United States Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division. As of July 24, 2009.
• [http://www.minimum-wage.org/history.asp History of the United States' Minimum Wage]. Minimum-Wage.org. Retrieved May 17, 2011.

Category:Minimum wage

Minimum wage

Category:Australian labour law

Category:United States labor law

Category:Late modern economic history