Minimum wage is the minimum hourly wage an employer can pay an employee. This number is determined by the government, and it is illegal for employers to pay their non-exempt workers anything below the minimum wage. This is very important, because it makes sure that employees do not fall into poverty.

My boys and I recently had a conversation about minimum wage and it got me thinking about my first job.  It was the late 1980’s and I was 13 years old.  I worked at Bishop’s Buffet rolling silverware in napkins and I made a whopping $2.15 an hour!

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #36: Minimum Wage
2. Go to this site and click around on the map to see some of the current minimum wages in the United States. Record several observations on your recording page.
3. Look at this site and make a table of Nebraska’s minimum wage from 1968 to present.
4. Using the same site from #3, compare the minimum wage for several states. Make a table and then transfer it to a graph. Use this online graphing tool or another graphing tool of your choice.
5. Read about Nebraska’s minimum wage at this site. What kinds of jobs offer minimum wage?  Is $12.00 an hour sufficient?
6. Ask a parent, grandparent, or other adult what their first job was and how much they made per hour.
7. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.