The federal minimum wage hasn’t gone up in 12 years—and is at its lowest value since 1956

According to an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute, the minimum wage is at its lowest value in more than 50 years.

The minimum wage has not been worth less since the Eisenhower administration, when it was 75 cents, according to the think tank.

Since 2009, the minimum wage has not been increased. The minimum wage hasn't been raised since the last increase in 13 years.

The minimum wage was raised frequently from the late 1950s to the early 1980s, according to David Cooper. We didn't touch the federal minimum wage until the Reagan administration came to power in the 1980's.

The previous longest time between minimum wage increases was 10 years.

Cooper says that we have gotten into a situation where we let inflation eat away at the minimum wage's value instead of doing something to make sure that it's still a more adequate wage for people.

A person earning the minimum wage for a full-time job in 2009, when it was raised to $8.25, was earning $5,000 more than a person earning the same wage today.

Cooper says that it means for someone who is trying to afford rent, a car, or student loans. That person's quality of life is vastly different.

Nevada, Oregon, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. all increased their minimum wages on July 1st. Vermont, South Dakota, New York, California and New Mexico have higher minimum wages. Twenty states have a minimum wage of $7.25.

Earlier this year, the president signed an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal workers and contractors to fifteen dollars an hour.

The Senate parliamentarian stopped the effort to include a minimum wage of fifteen dollars an hour in the coronaviruses relief package.

Cooper says that a low wage floor affects more people than just those earning the minimum, despite some states increasing their minimum wage.

He says that it is damaging for people who are further up the wage ladder to earn more than the minimum. If that wage floor had been raised more frequently over the course of the last 20 to 30 years, those people would be making more money today than they are.

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