A Living Wage

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• A Living Wage
• or A Death Wage?
• Andrew Kang Bartlett, Associate for National
  Hunger Concerns, Presbyterian Hunger Program,
  PC(USA)

Social Justice2005 Biennial ConferencePHEWA
Womens Advocacy Tucson, Arizona
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A Wage is a Wage is (not) a Wage
Legal Wage

• minimum wage
• attract to region or country
• as low as possible w/o violating law

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A Living Wage?
Ethical Wage

• self-defined within industry
• prevailing wage
• race to the bottom

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A Living Wage?

• poverty guidelines for family of 3
• plus 20 in wages or health
• 15,670 (3,134) 18,804 / hourly 7.84
  plus health or 9.40

Non-PovertyWage
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A Living Wage?

• morality human conscience
• image and likeness of God
• more than min. fuel maintenance
• contribution vs. needs

Moral Wage
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A Living Wage?

• examine distribution of benefits from production
  and profits
• worldwide concentration and deprivation of
  wealth

Just Wage
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A Living Wage?
Legal Wage
Ethical Wage
Non-PovertyWage
Moral Wage
Just Wage
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A Living Wage?
Death wages
Legal Wage
Ethical Wage
Non-PovertyWage
Moral Wage
Barely living
Living wage
Divine wage
Just Wage
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The Living Wage a tool to combat hunger
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Why are we watching this?

• Identify the tentacles of
  the poverty octopus
• Explore the connections between a
  living wage and hunger
• Learn what we can do

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Poverty as an octopus
1) Food (30 million insecure. EFA 17 up
99-00)
2) Housing (26 of homeless employed)
strong economy increased housing costs
3) Healthcare (43 million 85 working families)
4) Transportation
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Poverty The Octopus
5) Discrimination/ Racism/Sexism
6) Education/ Childcare
7) Spirit (community hope)
8) Money taxes, lending, income ?
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Real Family Income Growth Adjusted for Inflation
Source U.S. Census Bureau based on mean
family income
Poorest 20
Poorest 20
Richest 20
Richest 20
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Change in real household income by percentiles,
2000-03 2002-03 2004 U.S. Government Census
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Income the Living Wage
Erosion of the minimum wage The buying power of
the national minimum wage of 5.15 per hour is
30 below its peak in 1968, Despite about 50
higher productivity.

• As Christians, should we accept that people in
  the richest nation in the world can work 40 hours
  a week and still live in poverty?

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Do Our Taxes Support Poverty Wage Jobs?

• The answer is YES!
• In many communities, janitors, school bus
  drivers, food service, security, child care and
  other workers who work for contractors hired by
  state and local governments are paid poverty
  wages.
• For these Americans, health insurance, paid
  vacations, paid sick leave and pensions are only
  dreams.

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LIVING WAGES FIGHT POVERTY

• Across the nation, cities, counties and other
  local governments are adopting living wage
  ordinances to help working families get a decent
  standard of living. Commonly, living wage
  ordinances seek to
• insure that the employees of public contractors
  or corporations receiving public financial
  assistance and public employees earn at least a
  poverty level wage

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Living Wage Ordinances

• Some have gone beyond this bare minimum to offer
  
• incentives for employers to provide health
  insurance and
• paid time off for sick leave and vacations

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How is a Living Wage determined?
A Typical Formula

• The wage a full-time worker would need to earn to
  support a family above the federal poverty line,
  ranging from 100 to 130 of the poverty
  measurement.

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Another Formula Universal Living Wage
Food now comprises a smaller proportion of a
familys expenses, especially relative to housing
costs, but the calculation to determine the
Federal Poverty Line is still based on food
costs.

• I. Living Wage Based on Housing Costs
• Work a minimum of 40 hour week
• Spend no more than 30 of income on housing
• Index the wage to the local cost of housing as
  set the U.S. government - HUD Fair Market Rents

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Another formula

• II. Based on Food Stamp Eligibility Level
• In Montgomery County, MD, the wage was set at
  food stamp level, which is 130 of the Federal
  poverty line
• This equaled about 10.30 an hour
• In all cases, annual increases need to be
  included in the adopted ordinance

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Living Wage Fringe? Or a Movement?

• 123 Living Wage Ordinances have been passed in
  the United States

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Living Wage is a Movement
City and County Campaigns UNDERWAY

• Little Rock AR
• Pine Bluff AR
• Phoenix AZ
• Monterrey Co. CA
• San Anselmo CA
• San Diego CA
• San Mateo CA
• Santa Barbara CA
• Santa Monica CA
• Sonoma Co/SantaRosa CA
• Ventura County CA
• Boulder CO
• Grand Junction CO
• Bridgeport CT
• Willimantic CT
• Broward County FL
• Coral Gables FL

• Gainesville FL
• Jacksonville FL
• Miami FL
• South Miami FL
• Tampa FL
• Athens GA
• Atlanta GA
• Davenport IA
• Iowa City IA
• Champagne-Urbana IL
• Indianapolis IN
• Lafayette IN
• South Bend IN
• Manhattan KS
• Wichita KS
• Lexington KY
• Baton Rouge LA
• Bangor ME

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Living Wage is a Movement
City and County Campaigns continued

• Elmira NY
• Ithaca NY
• Rockland County NY
• Syracuse NY
• Troy NY
• Utica NY
• Columbus OH
• Kent OH
• Eugene OR
• Medford OR
• Allegheny County PA
• Providence RI
• Knoxville TN
• Memphis TN
• Nashville TN
• Austin TX
• Charlottesville VA
• Richmond VA
• Spokane WA

• Allen Park MI
• Grand Rapids MI
• Hazel Park MI
• Kalamazoo MI
• Madison Heights MI
• Monroe MI
• St. Louis County MN
• Oxford MS
• Asheville NC
• Charlotte NC
• Wilmington NC
• Portsmouth NH
• Camden County NJ
• Albuquerque NM
• Reno NV
• Albany NY
• Binghamton NY

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Living Wage is a Movement
Colleges and University Campaigns UNDERWAY

• Rhodes College
• Stanford University
• Swarthmore College, PA
• University of California - San Diego
• University of Connecticut
• University of Illinois - Chicago
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• University of Minnesota
• University of Northern Illinois
• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Tennessee
• University of Virginia
• University Pittsburgh
• Valdosta State University, GA

• Agnes Scott College, GA
• American University/Washington College of Law
  (Washington, D.C.)
• Brown University
• Bucknell University
• College of William and Mary
• Cornell University
• Duke University
• Earlham College, IN
• Fairfield University, CT
• Harvard University
• Johns Hopkins University
• Kent State, Ohio
• Northwestern University
• Princeton University

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Living Wage is a Movement
Statewide Campaigns (Interest) UNDERWAY

• California
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine

• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota (Implementation)
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• Washington
• West Virginia

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And why would I want to act?

• Win or lose, Living Wage campaigns
• mobilize churches and community organizations
• unite broad coalitions
• develop leaders and organizations

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Well and what else?

• Living Wage raises a public debate about the
  problem of working poverty
• and
• Points to fundamental questions concerning
• Community economic development
• Corporate welfare and responsibility
• Government accountability

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And if they succeed

• Families are brought out of poverty
• Demand on social services and funds decrease
• Upward pressure on wages throughout the area

• Incentives to privatize government functions are
  reduced
• The churches, organizations and the coalition are
  strengthened by the victory

.
!
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An Opportunity

• The road before us has
• been paved by hard
• work and great successes!

For example, East Tennessee Presbytery passed a
resolution for all congregations to study the
living wage, pay all the church employees a
living wage, and encourage congregants to do
likewise.
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Resources and assistance for launching or joining
a Living Wage Campaign

• The Bible calls for it!
• Our General Assembly Social Witness Policy
  affirms it!
• The Economic Policy Institute and others have
  compiled the research!
• ACORN and others have created successful models!
• And fellow Presbyterians can support you!

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By Andrew Kang Bartlett, Associate for National
Hunger Concerns