US Minimum Wage Is Pretty Low Compared To Some Countries
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:
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.