1st draft of reading response

Upfront Magazine: Minimum Age and a Minimum Wage.

The article Minimum Age and a Minimum Wage, by Joseph Berger, talks about how the minimum age for working has changed throughout history, and also how the minimum wage has increased. The first part of the article talks about the story of a 12-year-old boy who worked 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week, in the late 1930s. Daniel B. Cornfield states "It was  not considered exploitative" "The idea of all family members participating in the enterprise was considered the norm.” The boy was interviewed by photographer Lewis Hines, and told him, he didn't know how to read or write. He said "yes, i want to learn but can't when i have to work all the time." But in 1938, The Fair Labor Standards Act was passed and prevented children under 18 from doing certain jobs, and also set the federal minimum Wage of 25 cents an hour. If employees worked beyond that, employers were required to pay time and a half. The minimum wage has been changed more than 202 times since 1938, and is currently $7.25. Outside the USA, Child labor is still a big issue.

     The author of this article does not have a clear bias, but the facts that are giving in this article are making me feel very fond of the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) For example, the fact that Children as young as 12 worked for 72 hours a week, without even the slightest bit of education. This made me think about what it would be like if the FLSA had never been passed. Maybe we would still be working with no education., and this makes me afraid for what the future would have been like. The author is not showing any bias, because he even lists the Pros and Cons of the Minimum Wage. This section makes me feel that I would be an “advocate of a higher minimum” as I believe that the “minimum wage is too low to live on”  

This article has made me appreciate the Foundation of the FSLA and how we are able to get a good education, and not have to work long hours to support my family. This article has also made me interested in how other countries are doing with child labor. I would like to research how children are living in these countries that still have child labor, and if they are bale to still get an education. This article has also taught me that poverty and child labor have always been linke