Living Wages

Living Wages

Living wage policies have been established in cities, counties, school districts, states and other public agencies throughout the country to lift workers out of poverty.  Most living wage laws set minimum wage and benefit standards for public contracts, subsidies and leaseholders on public land. Several are based upon a geographic zone. Today there are over 150 such laws in place.

Commentary

Living Wage has brought good competition to Los Angeles International Airport

L.A.'s Living Wage Ordinance Isn't a Job Killer

September 21, 2011
minimum wage photo

Crying Wolf Over Higher Wages in a Time of Need

December 09, 2010

Cry Wolf Quotes

These teenagers [that drop out of school to take the higher wage jobs] take jobs that would go to unskilled adults, making it harder for those adults to make the transition from welfare to work.

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N. Gregory Mankiw, The Boston Globe.
06/24/2001 | Full Details | Law(s): Living Wage

Maryland legislators’ good intentions do not change the fact that living wages result in job loss, particularly among the less skilled and less educated.

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Jenkins, Jill, Employment Policy Institute.
09/28/2007 | Full Details | Law(s): Living Wage

…the stated goal behind the living wage movement is poverty reduction, and many of the ordinances mandate a wage that would lift a family of four above the poverty level. However, as with minimum wage increases, economic studies have shown that living wage mandates do more harm than good to those living in poverty through resulting job elimination and shifting entry-level jobs from lower-skilled workers to higher-skilled workers.

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U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
02/20/2004 | Full Details | Law(s): Living Wage

By forcing employers to pay higher wages for entry-level jobs, Boston's City Council is also encouraging them to only hire applicants with the skill levels needed to match those wages. No amount of political grandstanding is going to repeal that economic law.

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Richard Berman, letter to the Washington Times.
08/16/1997 | Full Details | Law(s): Living Wage

Related Laws and Rules

Evidence

Backgrounders & Briefs

Living Wage Policy Brief: Stephanie Luce

Living wage ordinances have helped thousands of workers and tiresome cry wolf claims are wrong.

Resources

Political Economy Research Institute is a think tank focused on a variety of subjects such as diverse financial regulation, living wages and environmental protection.

University of California-Berkeley Labor Center carries out research on labor and workplace-related issues.

The National Employment Law Project is an organization that promotes economically just public policy in the face of the prevailing trends of the law several decades.