当前美国最低工资水平的变动机制

The Changing Mechanism of The Minimum Wage in Modern USA

在美国,最低工资的执行有着特殊的代表性。特别是最低工资的运动轨迹及其不同阶段的水平,反映了背后诸多政治力量的博弈;同时也反映出影响最低工资的各种指标的状况,比如财政承受力,企业承受力等等。在美国,如果年龄与性别分布、地区分布、职业分布、行业分布、教育分布、婚姻分布、就业时间分布不同,最低工资的状况是大不相同的。美国自1997年到2007年间一直未调整过最低工资,就最近一次调整来看,是考虑了最低工资的真实价值、最低工资对平均工资的占比,最低工资与贫困线对比等各种因素后作出的一种选择,对中国的最低工资确定有着较为重要的参考意义。

In the United States（U.S.）,the movement trajectory of the minimum wag e and its level at different stages reflected the games being played among vario us political powers.It has been an indicator of the market condition and enterp rise affordability at different times.In addition,minimum wage in the U.S.var ied greatly in different distributions：age and gender distribution,regional di stribution,vocational distribution,industry distribution,education distributi on,marital distribution,and employment period distribution.The U.S.did not a djust the minimum wage from 1997 to 2007.The recent adjustment was made based t he actual value of minimum wage,the share of the average wage,and poverty line.We can benefit from studying such factors.