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
The burden placed on nonprofit agencies employees will be tremendous…Homeless shelters, community development groups and social service agencies likely will need to reduce the number of their services to the most needy citizens in Detroit in order to comply with the wage hike.
This is bad news for cities. The living wage poses a big threat to their economic health, because the costs and restrictions it imposes on the private sector will destroy jobs —especially low-wage jobs — and send businesses fleeing to other locales.
The proposed living-wage ordinance, before Detroit voters Nov. 3, on the surface, seems admirable. But one doesn't need to look beyond its title to find seriously flawed logic. The same jobs that the measure's proponents are seeking to promote, in reality, will likely disappear.
As if New York's economy wasn't already stressed enough, there's a renewed push in the City Council for a local ‘living wage’ law that could hinder the city's economic renewal while reducing job opportunities for the very people it is supposed to help.
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.
