MinimumWage

Organized labor in the U.S. has been under sustained assault for some time; now, unions are fighting back with a major ad campaign designed to improve their image. Problem is, the centerpiece commercial mangles the message -- and misses the point.

For millions of retired Americans, Social Security benefits barely beat earning the minimum wage, while rich retirees who don't need the money receive much larger checks. With the iconic safety net program in budget trouble, should the wealthy be forced to sacrifice those benefits?

Good news: Retirees will get a 3.6% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment in 2012 -- their first boost since 2009. Bad news: The average benefit is $1,229 a month, about the equivalent of working for minimum wage.

The national minimum wage as set by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), is currently $7.25, but some workers not covered by this law in some states benefit from a higher state-set minimum wage. Unlike the federal law, however, many of the state minimum wages are adjusted annually against the...

With the economy in shambles, the timing for an increase in the federal minimum wage could not be more awkward. The two sectors most likely to be effected by the increase -- retailers and restaurants -- have been hurt badly by souring consumer confidence and yet their costs are about to skyrocket:...

When your son or daughter applies for educational aid from the government you first have to fill out the FAFSA, a free application which helps determine how much money you as a parent should be able to contribute towards their education. In most cases the dollar amount that you are expected to put...

I recently read a post by a blogger who did a little exercise to see if he could survive on minimum wage. He chose a location of Hartford, CT, and used the state's minimum wage of $7.65. He assumed a forty hour work week, which equaled an income of about $1,224 a month. He then went down his list...