text: So I got it right: You do not know why minimum wage laws were instituted.  In 1938, the minimum wage was established at $0.25 per hour. That was an IMPROVEMENT in many workers' wages.
  
  The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, set in July 2009 and not raised since. At 40 hours per week, 52 weeks a year, that comes to $15080 per year. Do you seriously believe that is a living wage?