by Brian T. Lynch,
MSW
Question: In looking at the Living Wage calculator, I see that $10.83 for a single adult in Morris County,
New Jersey where I live. This seems fair
to me for a single person, but when you add one child to that scenario the rate
jumps to $22.12 per hour. This raises a serious question. Does the Living Wage Movement suggest that wages
should be adjusted according to need? [ http://livingwage.mit.edu/ ]
Answer: That's a great question. I am not a spokesman
for, or advocate of, the living wage movement as an organization. I do believe
that living wages should be the minimum wage in this country. Minimum living wages should be what we pay
summer college help or student interns, not full-time employees. It might also
be appropriate for part-time seasonal help. It shouldn't be what we pay
permanently hired employees.
To answer your question, I researched what a living wage is
in the 130 cities that have living wage laws. It turns out that their wage base
is for a single employee, not including any dependents. A living wage in
Manchester CT equals $15.54/hour (the highest) while it is $8.50 in Orlando FL
(the lowest). It would appear that the
Living Wage Movement is looking to index a minimum living wage minimum to local
economies based on one adult with no dependents.
That said, the minimum wage in 1986 was $10.86/hour as opposed to its current level of $7.25/hour.
If it had been indexed to inflation in
1986 the current minimum wage today would be $23.59/hour today. That clearly
was intended to provide for a worker with a family. The current median family
size is 2.54 persons per household. That inflation adjusted wage equals about
$47,000 per year while the current median family wage is a little over $51,000
per year (and still declining, I might add).
Here's the thing, we have only been talking about wage
adjustments to keep pace with inflation. We have not been talking about raising
wages to reward workers for our growing productivity. We haven't been talking
about sharing the wealth that workers help create so everyone keeps pace with
America's growing economy. Cost of living adjustments are important, but they
shouldn't be confused with a productivity, or merit raise.
America is $1.7 trillion richer today than it was in 1976. Our economy has doubled, yet the share of all that new wealth created by American workers in this same period is insignificant.
In the 1960's my father was an appliance repairman at Sears.
His salary was enough that my mother could stay home and raise my sister and me. Her role as mother to the next generation of citizens was valued. Today,
a typical family of four earns about $51,000 only because both parents work. They
are only able to make ends meet because of easy access to credit to shift their
financial burdens onto their future earnings.
When I speak about a living wage I dream of getting
back to a point where one breadwinner can hold one full-time job and still raise
a small family without needing government assistance to do it. That's what we
had, and that should be our goal for America.
