5 - Issues and choices for a sustainable living wage in the twenty-first century

Summary

While the term “living wage” sounds simple, this book has shown that both its interpretation and its application are far from straightforward.

The basic idea that we should organize society and the economy so that workers can earn enough to live a decent life remains highly pertinent today. As well as being the focus of numerous campaigns for better pay, it expresses a philosophical standpoint that makes excessive appropriation of wealth and income by the economically powerful, without considering the basic needs of workers, no more acceptable than when medieval Christians were writing about “just returns” for a worker’s toil.

Applying this principle in a modern market economy is another matter entirely. Living wage campaigns achieved some remarkable victories in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Whether this will result in a generalized, permanent improvement in living conditions of low-paid workers depends on a wide range of factors. Some are related to political power, including the strength of living wage movements and the positions taken by political parties, influenced by public opinion. More fundamental are factors determining whether it is economically feasible in the long term to produce a sufficient number of jobs paying wages that support an acceptable standard of living, as defined by society. Governments cannot legislate such conditions simply by forbidding employers to pay less, although they can help foster them by contributing to workers’ incomes or lowering their living costs through other subsidies, hence reducing the wage that a worker requires to be paid in order to produce a living income.

The future sustainability of the living wage cannot be taken for granted. It raises a range of issues, dilemmas and choices. This final chapter considers these under four broad headings, with a number of issues identified within each of them:

• • Can the living wage remain true to its brand?

• • How could the relationship between minimum and living wages develop?

• • Who are the winners and losers from living wages?

• • What will a living wage look like as work transforms?

Can the living wage remain true to its brand?

The imprecision of the term “living wage” can be both a strength and a weakness.