One economist has said that the US minimum wage would be $26 (£18) an hour if they had kept track of productivity in warnings of wages falling behind the cost of living.

The federally mandated minimum wage, first introduced in 1938, has not increased since it was capped at $7.25 an hour 12 years ago, despite rising in line with inflation for the first 30 years.

Dean Baker, senior economist at the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research, argued recently blog post If wages had increased along with productivity, that wage would have been $26 an hour.

“This may sound crazy, but it is roughly what today’s minimum wage would be if it kept pace with productivity growth as its value peaked in 1968,” he wrote – arguing that for Americans Wages were arguably flat-lined or fell on the basis of inflation.

Although he described the $26 an hour figure as a “thought experiment” that would potentially lead to mass unemployment, Mr Baker said that “having a minimum wage track productivity growth is not a crazy idea.” “.

Productivity, in relation to the minimum wage, is about the income generated by an employee in an hour.

Mr Baker explained that in recent years, while CEOs and white-collar workers have taken away the bulk of the money and profits, low-wage and blue-collar workers have not benefited.

Democratic lawmakers, including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have called for the introduction of a higher minimumwage at $10 (£7), despite the additional threats Republicans have placed on low-wage workers during the COVID pandemic. has been done.

However, with California only 20 states continuing to use the $7.50 per hour minimum wage – which has a higher cost of living than other places in the US – companies with 26 workers or more are paying $14 (£10) an hour. payment is required.

In a recent survey conducted by CBS NewsMost Americans were in favor of raising the federally mandated minimum wage, raising hopes that Congress might pass a higher minimum wage in the future.

The nearly 9.1 million Americans who remain out of work since the start of the COVID crisis, meanwhile, lost their unemployment benefits on Labor Day, the annual holiday in recognition of workers.