I’d like to take you back approximately 78 years ago to a time where the average cost for a brand new home was $4100, gas was 10 cent a gallon, and workers made approximately $1780 a year in wages (The Year 1937, 2004). A time where Franklin D. Roosevelt was the President and our country was on the recovering end of a severe economic downturn known as The Great Depression (This Year 1937, 2004). Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a recently released movie and the famous “Of Mice and Men,” book was published (This Year 1937, 2004). Imagine being a seven year old child in this era working 12 or more hour days in a factory or a mine for mere pennies on the dollar. School is not an option for you because your family needs you to work in order for everyone to survive. Imagine being a mother working next to your young child in that same factory; imagine witnessing the aches and pains your child is experiencing while dealing with your own struggles that come from working long hours in extremely harsh conditions. On pay day you receive your check which may only be three to five dollars for a well over 40 hour work week. This is an example of how life most likely was for some workers prior to the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). Adults and kids worked barbarically long hours only to be paid wages that kept families on the brink of starvation. Throughout this paper it is my intent to provide a brief history on the Fair Labor Standards Act, current issues
