Living Wage

Changing our Standard of Living

By: Audelia Solorio and Devin Griffin

● The first minimum wage in the US proposed in 1912 in Massachusetts o The idea spread to several states throughout the

next decade● National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) establishes

first national minimum wage, is brought to court and declared unconstitutional

History

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

● Reestablishes the national minimum wageo $0.25 an hour, about $4 adjusted to inflationo Upheld by United States v. Darby Lumber Co.

● Establishes standard 40 hour work week● Includes child labor laws● A part of New Deal legislation

● National minimum wage starts about $4/houro Highest minimum wage (adjusted) is 30 years

later, about $11/houro Currently $7.25/hour

● Significant wage inequalities exist in the US o The top 1% experiences higher average increases

in income than lower wage earnerso There is also a pronounced gender wage gap

Wages in the Workforce

Minimum Wage● Federal Minimum Wage is currently $7.25 an hour ● The value of the federal minimum wage has fallen

30%● Despite 2007-2009 economic increases, the minimum

wage remains too low to sustain working familieso Working poor exceed 47 million due to

steep erosion economic decline

Living Wage● A wage rate required to meet minimum

standards of living An approximate income needed to meet a

family’s basic needs● Enabling the working poor to achieve:

o financial independence o maintaining housing and food security

Seattle

● In June 2014, Seattle voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour from the $7.25 federal minimum

● Large employers of 500 employees or more will be paying their employees the new $15 minimum by 2017

● Small businesses of 500 employees or less enacting the new $15 minimum by 2021

Working on Progress● Progress is the advancement towards growth and

development● Rhetoric of the conversation is that of positivity and

improvement ● Raising the standard of living will make the lives of the

masses more desirable, lifting thousands out of poverty● If we consider the cost of living, the minimum wage

does not support an individual much less a family

Then and Now ● Then: A federal minimum wage in 1968 could have lifted

a family of three above the poverty line● Now: A federal minimum wage in 2013 cannot support a

parent with one childo working full-timeo 40 hours a week o 52 weeks a year o assuming there is no time off

State of Living in 2014● The minimum wage does not provide a living wage

for the average American familyo the living wage exceeds the poverty threshold

● the living wage varies based on the cost of living and taxes where families reside

● The cost of housing and childcare for families with children exceeds all other expenses

Works Cited● Badger, Emily. “Minimum Wage Was Once Enough To Keep a Family of 3

Out of Poverty.” The Atlantic CITYLAB. (2013). Web. 26 Oct. 2014. ● City of Seattle. Office of the Mayor. 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014● Economic Policy Institute. Research and Ideas for Shared Prosperity:

Minimum Wage. EPI, 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. ● Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Living Wage Calculator. MIT,

2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. ● National Employment Law Project. Living Wage and Minimum Wage.

NELP, 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. ● Peralta, Katherine. “Minimum Wage Capturing Political Center Stage.”

U.S. News & World Report. (2014). Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

Works Cited ● “Raising the Minimum Wage to $10.10 Would Benefit 4.7 Million Moms.”

Economic Policy Institute. 2014. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. ● The Women’s Foundation of California. Bridge to Living Wage. WFCA,

2012-2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.● United States Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938:

Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage. DOL, 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.

● U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 2015 Fair Market Rent Documentation System. FMR, 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.