living wage changing our standard of living by: audelia solorio and devin griffin
TRANSCRIPT
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.