What Happens When The US Increases Its Minimum Wage? By John BIERS 01/30/21 AT 10:39 PM Progressive lawmakers this week formally launched an effort to hike the US minimum wage, introducing legislation to gradually raise it from $7.25 to $15 an hour. The proposed increase is much larger than those in the recent past, but supporters argue it is warranted because it has been more than a decade since the wage was lifted, and the current minimum wage is too little for life in the United States. First enacted by Congress in 1938 as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the wage has been amended several times, most recently in 2007, when Congress voted to lift it gradually from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour.