I believe any 18+ resident in the US should be able to get a job that pays the prevailing living wage of their community (formula below) that includes healthcare and education reimbursement. This will help move people off unemployment and out 1/
of poverty. It will also end corporate welfare, as companies won't be able to get away with paying starvation wages that leave their workers relying on food stamps or homeless. This is the promise of America and it should be enshrined in law. Call it the new WPA, 2/
infrastructure army, or conservation corps, there is plenty of work for the foreseeable future. It's a Jobs Promise. Are you willing and able to work, society will take care of you and your family. Are you willing, but unable to work for legitimate reasons, we will take care 3/
of you too. This really should be the bedrock upon which our democracy is built. Equal rights, equal opportunity, equal education, equal access to health and human services. This will have the effect of creating a new generation of small business owners who are able to 4/
work, get educated, and save a little money. Like generations of Americans before them, they will identify a need and fill it. A report from New American Economy found that 45% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. That's the spirit we want to 5/
nuture and feed.
So what is a living wage. The Dept of Labor had a definition that is ok. I think of it like this. The cost of room and board should be no more than 40% of one's after-tax income. If rent and utilities for a two-bedroom apartment and monthly food 6/
So what is a living wage. The Dept of Labor had a definition that is ok. I think of it like this. The cost of room and board should be no more than 40% of one's after-tax income. If rent and utilities for a two-bedroom apartment and monthly food 6/
costs equals $1,500 a month, then living wage is about $3900 a month. Crucially that allows for savings and investment in retirement too. It's no surprise that the real living wage is multiples of what you earn on minimum wage. Real wages and earning have been depressed 7/
since the 1970s and are way under what they should be in the market. Economists will tell you a job promise will raise the cost of doing business for small businesses. But a good business will still find workers willing to sacrifice a bit in real time earnings for an 8/
equity stake. And if you really want to be a part time barista earning less than a living wage, you can take that job and not have to worry about healthcare because it's not tied to employment. 9/9
