Wage and price controls were initiated by the U.S. government in 1942, in order to help win World War II (1939–1945), and maintain the general quality of life on the home front. The mission of the OPA was to prevent profiteering and inflation as durable goods became scarcer in the United States because of the war.
During World War II, price controls were used in an attempt to control wartime inflation. The Franklin Roosevelt Administration instituted the OPA (Office of Price Administration). That agency was rather unpopular with business interests and was phased out as quickly as possible after peace had been restored.
Price controls can be both good and bad. They help make certain goods and services, such as food and housing, more affordable and within reach of consumers. They can also help corporations by eliminating monopolies and opening up the market to more competition.
Despite efforts of the National War Labor Board, the shortage of labor during World War II caused sharp increases in wages. Average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers in manufacturing more than doubled between 1940 and 1949, with the largest increases during the war years, 1940-44.
25 cents per hour
Administered by the Department of Labor, the Act set a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour and a maximum workweek of 40 hours (to be phased in by 1940) for most workers in manufacturing.
