Living Wage
Living wage ordinances typically set a wage above the federal minimum wage, but they only apply to businesses that service receive state contracts or recieve assisstance from the government. Living wage policies are meant to ensure that workers recieve enough income to secure basic amoynts of food shelter, transport, medical needs and other necessities.
Commentary
Cry Wolf Quotes
Why, then, would [the Boston City Council] threaten to drive away businesses by signing on to a murky, unpredictable, and divisive ordinance that requires employers and their subcontractors to open their books, including wages, deductions, and fringe benefits, to all "applicable" city departments? The Internal Revenue Service and the state Department of Revenue are required to keep such information confidential. The city ordinance requires it to be made public, placing businesses at a competitive disadvantage.
…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.
This proposal is just another death wish. It delivers to business a simple message: This is Detroit; it costs you more to do business here than anywhere else in Michigan. If you don't like it, leave.
The quickest way to kill jobs is to have this ordinance pass. It is dumb and dangerous.
Evidence
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The Economic Impact of Local Living Wages
The Economic Policy Institute finds that the costs of living wage ordinances are often overestimated.
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Examining the Evidence: The Impact of the Los Angeles Living Wage Ordinance on Workers and Employers
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy: The LA living wage ordinance brought a pay raise to 10,000 workers, most of whom were poor.
Backgrounders & Briefs
Living Wage Policy Brief: Stephanie Luce
Living wage ordinances have helped thousands of workers and tiresome cry wolf claims are wrong.
