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Someone Compares The Minimum Wage In 2010 vs 2020, And If That’s Not Sad Enough, Other People Share More Statistics
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Someone Compares The Minimum Wage In 2010 vs 2020, And If That’s Not Sad Enough, Other People Share More Statistics

Someone Compares The Minimum Wage In 2010 vs 2020, And If That’s Not Sad Enough, Other People Share More StatisticsSomeone Compares The Minimum Wage In 2010 vs 2020 To Start The New Decade With A Stab Of RealitySomeone Tweets That The Minimum Wage In The US Has Remained The Same For 10 Years, And People Start Sharing Sad StatsA Reminder That The Minimum Wage In The US Has Remained The Same For A Decade Has People Sharing Some Sad StatsMinimum Wage In The US Remained The Same For A Decade And People Are Sharing Some Sad StatsTwitter Notices The Minimum Wage In The US Hasn't Changed Since 2009, Enters 2020 By Sharing Sad StatsPeople Notice The Minimum Wage In The US Hasn't Changed Since 2009, Start Tweeting Gloomy StatisticsSomeone Compares The Minimum Wage In 2010 vs 2020, And If That’s Not Sad Enough, Other People Share More StatisticsSomeone Compares The Minimum Wage In 2010 vs 2020, And If That’s Not Sad Enough, Other People Share More StatisticsSomeone Compares The Minimum Wage In 2010 vs 2020, And If That’s Not Sad Enough, Other People Share More Statistics
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We all have our understanding of what a good New Year’s party is, but Twitter entered 2020 by sharing sad stats. However, while it’s not as exciting as lighting up some fireworks, reflecting on some important social issues really helps to put things into perspective.

Everything started when reporter Ken Klippenstein tweeted that the minimum wage in the US has remained the same for a decade – $7.25. Pretty soon, people began replying to him with other gloomy numbers. The thread has already received over 172K likes and 53K retweets, and it looks like it continues to grow. Unlike the wallets of the minimum wage workers.

More info: Twitter

Beginning of the decade

Image credits: kenklippenstein

End of the decade

Image credits: kenklippenstein

Image credits: kenklippenstein

The first country in the world to pass national minimum wage laws was New Zealand. The Kiwis did this back in 1894. It took nearly half a century for the US to do the same. President Franklin Roosevelt introduced the first federal minimum wage in 1938, setting it at 25 cents an hour, which equates to about $4.45 in today’s money.

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Image credits: kenklippenstein

Throughout the years, Congress has raised the minimum wage 22 times. The current level, at $7.25 an hour, was set in 2009. However, it’s worth mentioning that cities and states have the option of setting their own minimum wages. As of January 2019, 29 states had a minimum wage higher than the federal level.

Image credits: buckadef

In recent years, these numbers have caused growing protests. A movement called “Fight for $15” has been demanding an increase in the minimum wage to a living wage (the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs). According to a calculator created by Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier, the living wage in the United States was $16.07 per hour in 2017, before taxes for a family of four (two working adults, two children).

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Rokas Laurinavičius

Rokas Laurinavičius

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Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

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Rokas Laurinavičius

Rokas Laurinavičius

Author, BoredPanda staff

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Denis Tymulis

Denis Tymulis

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Denis is a photo editor at Bored Panda. After getting his bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design, he tried to succeed in digital design, advertising, and branding. Also, Denis really enjoys sports and loves everything related to board sports and water.

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Denis Tymulis

Denis Tymulis

Author, Community member

Denis is a photo editor at Bored Panda. After getting his bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design, he tried to succeed in digital design, advertising, and branding. Also, Denis really enjoys sports and loves everything related to board sports and water.

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John Louis
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The single most defining characteristic of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives is that the Republicans and much of the Democrats always vote in the interest of the wealthy. Keep minimum wages low, prevent unions from being formed, cut or prevent enviromental regulations, fight against paid family leave, cut tax rates on the wealthiest Americans, challenge affirmative action legislation, deregulate the financial investment markets, deregulate banks, deregulate industry, heck deregulate everything. Conservative Americans fall for it every time.

El Dee
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's a strange thing, you guys have even protested against more affordable healthcare and don't have free at the point of use healthcare like a lot of other developed countries. Like turkeys voting for Christmas..

Load More Replies...
ChristinaS
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s just sad. Apparently having the strongest military takes priority over everything else because that’s where all our money is going

Freya the Wanderer
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You said it! Thr USA accounts for nearly half the world's military spending. Our bridges and roads are crumbling, our public schools and libraries are underfunded, funding for NASA and food stamps is being slashed to the bone, but there's always plenty of taxpayer money for needless wars abroad.

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
John Louis
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The single most defining characteristic of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives is that the Republicans and much of the Democrats always vote in the interest of the wealthy. Keep minimum wages low, prevent unions from being formed, cut or prevent enviromental regulations, fight against paid family leave, cut tax rates on the wealthiest Americans, challenge affirmative action legislation, deregulate the financial investment markets, deregulate banks, deregulate industry, heck deregulate everything. Conservative Americans fall for it every time.

El Dee
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's a strange thing, you guys have even protested against more affordable healthcare and don't have free at the point of use healthcare like a lot of other developed countries. Like turkeys voting for Christmas..

Load More Replies...
ChristinaS
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s just sad. Apparently having the strongest military takes priority over everything else because that’s where all our money is going

Freya the Wanderer
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You said it! Thr USA accounts for nearly half the world's military spending. Our bridges and roads are crumbling, our public schools and libraries are underfunded, funding for NASA and food stamps is being slashed to the bone, but there's always plenty of taxpayer money for needless wars abroad.

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
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