The Living Wage Calculator estimates the local wage rate that a full-time worker requires to cover the costs of their family’s basic needs where they live. Explore the living wage in your county, metro area, or state for 12 different family types.
Background and Context
Your background section should include information that your intended audience should learn early in your essay so that they have some context for what you are arguing.
Are there terms you need to define?
Are there competing definitions of terms you need to clarify?
Is there any historical context you need to include?
Is there any facet of the topic that you need to compare/contrast or classify for your audience to better understand the scope of the issue?
by Jasmine Payne-Patterson and Adewale A. Maye, 2023. Economic Policy Institute. A look back at the 85-year history of the minimum wage, how it differs in states and localities, and how minimum wage laws continue to have implications for racial, gender, and economic justice today.
The Wage and Workplace Standards Division has jurisdiction over the laws and regulations governing employer-employee relationships covering approximately 1.6 million workers and 97,000 employers in Connecticut. Among these laws are minimum wage, overtime, wage payment, prevailing wage, and employment of minors.
A number of brief articles on the history of the minimum wage including the Columbia Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia of American Government and Civics.