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A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the price floor below which workers may not sell their labor. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in many jurisdictions, differences of opinion exist about the benefits and drawbacks of a minimum wage. Supporters of the minimum wage say it increases the standard of living of workers, reduces poverty, reduces inequality, boosts morale and forces businesses to be more efficient.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Advantage Of The Minimum Wage | Robert Nielsen )〕 In contrast, opponents of the minimum wage say it increases poverty, increases unemployment (particularly among unskilled or inexperienced workers) and is damaging to businesses. ==History== The precursor of modern minimum wage laws can be found in the Ordinance of Labourers (1349), which was a decree by King Edward III that set a'' maximum wage'' for laborers in medieval England.〔https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/6760/405260Minimum0101OFFICIAL0USE0ONLY1.pdf?sequence=1〕 King Edward III, a wealthy land owner like his lords, was dependent on serfs to work his lands. In the autumn of 1348, the Black Plague reached England and decimated the population. The severe shortage of labor caused wages to soar and encouraged King Edward III to set a wage ceiling. Subsequent amendments to the ordinance, such as the Statute of Labourers (1351), increased the penalties for paying a wage above the set rates. While the laws governing wages initially set a ceiling on compensation, they were eventually used to set a living wage. An amendment to the Statute of Labourers in 1389 effectively fixed wages to the price of food. As the centuries passed, the Justice of the Peace, who was charged with setting the maximum wage, also began to set formal minimum wages. The practice was eventually formalized with the passage of the Act Fixing a Minimum Wage in 1604 by King James I for workers in the textile industry.〔 By the early 19th century, the Statutes of Labourers was repealed as increasingly capitalistic England embraced ''laissez-faire'' policies which disfavored regulations of wages (whether upper or lower limits).〔 The subsequent 19th century saw significant labor unrest affect many industrial nations. As trade unions were decriminalized during the century, attempts to control wages through collective agreement were made. However, this meant that a uniform minimum wage was not possible. In ''Principles of Political Economy'' in 1848, John Stuart Mill argued that because of the collective action problems that workers faced in organisation, it was a justified departure from ''laissez faire'' policies (or freedom of contract) to regulate people's wages and hours by law. It was not until the 1890s that modern legislative attempts to regulate minimum wages were seen in New Zealand and Australia.〔 The movement for a minimum wage was initially focused on stopping sweatshop labor and controlling the proliferation of sweatshops in manufacturing industries. The sweatshops employed large numbers of women and young workers, paying them what were considered to be substandard wages. The sweatshop owners were thought to have unfair bargaining power over their employees, and a minimum wage was proposed as a means to make them pay fairly. Over time, the focus changed to helping people, especially families, become more self sufficient. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Minimum wage」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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