Wage

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For other uses, see WAGE.

A wage is a compensation workers receive in exchange for their labor.

1 Determinants of wage rates
2 Etymology
3 Wages in the United States
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Determinants of wage rates

Depending on the structure and traditions of different economies around the world, wage rates are either the product of market forces (Supply and Demand), as is common in the United States, or wage rates may be influenced by other factors such as tradition, social structure and seniority, as in Japan.^{[citation needed]}

Several countries have enacted a statutory minimum wage rate that fixes the price of certain kinds of labor.

[edit] Etymology

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Wage derives from words which suggest "making a promise," often in monetary form. Specifically from the Old French word wagier or gagier meaning to pledge or promise, from which the money placed in a bet (wager) also derives. These in turn may derive from the French gage to wager, the Gothic wadi, or the Late Latin wadium, also meaning "a pledge".

[edit] Wages in the United States

In the United States, wages for most workers are set by market forces, or else by collective bargaining, where a labor union negotiates on the workers' behalf. Although states and cities can and sometimes set a minimum wage, the Fair Labor Standards Act requires a minimum wage at the federal level. For certain federal or state government contacts, employers must pay the so-called prevailing wage as determined according to the Davis-Bacon Act or its state equivalent. Activists have undertaken to promote the idea of a living wage rate which would be higher than current minimum wage laws require.