US Minimum Wage Is Pretty Low
Compared To Some Countries
WALTER HICKEY
FEB. 13, 2013, 12:27 PM
President Barack Obama proposed last night that the United States raise the minimum wage to
$9.00 per hour.
While that may seem like a massive raise for low earners  the current minimum wage is $7.25
per hour  we learned that when accounting for the impact of inflation this would be far from
the first time that the United States minimum wage exceeded $9.00 in 2012 dollars.
There's an even more comprehensive look at how the United States minimum wage stacks up,
and that's by comparing it to other nations.
Take a look at how the minimum wage levels in member nations of the Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development, the economic club for rich countries:
stats.oecd.org and en.wikipedia.org
Among OECD nations, every single country that pays a higher minimum wage than the U.S. pays
upwards of $9.00 U.S. dollars per hour.
Australia, the nation with the best minimum compensation on the list, has a minimum wage
equivalent to $15.75 in U.S. dollars.
Japan, which is the lowest paying country to beat the U.S. pays U.S. $9.16 per hour.
All told, the U.S. falls toward the bottom of the pack near Greece, Spain and Israel.
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