What is the minimum wage?
The minimum wage is the starting hourly wage an employer can pay an employee for work. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour (part of the Fair Labor Standards Act). Some states and cities have raised their minimum wage higher than that. In most instances, the higher of the prevailing minimum wage requirements is binding for employers.
May 29, 2026
DATA: Summer Jobs Are Vanishing for California Teens
It’s that time of year again – school is almost out and teens are looking for a summer job. But the latest data shows in states like California, nearly a…
May 22, 2026
The UK’s National Living Wage Failure Shouldn’t Be Exported to the U.S.
In a Boston Globe op-ed this week, Arindrajit Dube argued for a minimum wage model that would push wage floors substantially higher in many states. Dube, a professor…
New York
May 15, 2026
Past Wage Hikes Hurt NYC’s Restaurants, Mamdani’s Will Too
Zohran Mamdani campaigned on a promise to raise the Big Apple’s minimum wage to $30 an hour. Now that he’s the mayor, a $30 proposal is currently before the City…
May 8, 2026
Economists Oppose Sky-High Local, State, and Federal Wage Hikes
Recent proposals at the federal, state, and local level are pushing for increasingly higher minimum wage rates. A majority of these efforts more than double the existing minimum wage, raising…