Living Wage
Changing our Standard of Living
By: Audelia Solorio and Devin Griffin
History
● The first minimum wage in the US proposed in 1912
in Massachusetts
o The idea spread to several states throughout the
next decade
● National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) establishes
first national minimum wage, is brought to court and
declared unconstitutional
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
● Reestablishes the national minimum wage
o $0.25 an hour, about $4 adjusted to inflation
o Upheld by United States v. Darby Lumber Co.
● Establishes standard 40 hour work week
● Includes child labor laws
● A part of New Deal legislation
Wages in the Workforce
● National minimum wage starts about $4/hour
o Highest minimum wage (adjusted) is 30 years
later, about $11/hour
o Currently $7.25/hour
● Significant wage inequalities exist in the US
o The top 1% experiences higher average increases
in income than lower wage earners
o There is also a pronounced gender wage gap
Minimum Wage
● Federal Minimum Wage is currently $7.25 an hour
● The value of the federal minimum wage has fallen
30%
● Despite 2007-2009 economic increases, the minimum
wage remains too low to sustain working families
o Working poor exceed 47 million due to
 steep erosion
 economic decline
Living Wage
● A wage rate required to meet minimum
standards of living
An approximate income needed to meet a
family’s basic needs
● Enabling the working poor to achieve:
o
o
financial independence
maintaining housing and food security
Seattle
● In June 2014, Seattle voted to raise the minimum wage
to $15 an hour from the $7.25 federal minimum
● Large employers of 500 employees or more will be
paying their employees the new $15 minimum by 2017
● Small businesses of 500 employees or less enacting
the new $15 minimum by 2021
Working on Progress
● Progress is the advancement towards growth and
development
● Rhetoric of the conversation is that of positivity and
improvement
● Raising the standard of living will make the lives of the
masses more desirable, lifting thousands out of poverty
● If we consider the cost of living, the minimum wage
does not support an individual much less a family
Then and Now
● Then: A federal minimum wage in 1968 could have
lifted a family of three above the poverty line
● Now: A federal minimum wage in 2013 cannot support a
parent with one child
o working full-time
o 40 hours a week
o 52 weeks a year
o assuming there is no time off
State of Living in 2014
● The minimum wage does not provide a living wage
for the average American family
o the living wage exceeds the poverty threshold
● the living wage varies based on the cost of living
and taxes where families reside
● The cost of housing and childcare for families with
children exceeds all other expenses
Works Cited
● Badger, Emily. “Minimum Wage Was Once Enough To Keep a Family of
3 Out of Poverty.” The Atlantic CITYLAB. (2013). Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
● City of Seattle. Office of the Mayor. 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014
● Economic Policy Institute. Research and Ideas for Shared Prosperity:
Minimum Wage. EPI, 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.
● Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Living Wage Calculator. MIT,
2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
● National Employment Law Project. Living Wage and Minimum Wage.
NELP, 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.
● Peralta, Katherine. “Minimum Wage Capturing Political Center Stage.”
U.S. News & World Report. (2014). Web. 23 Oct. 2014.
Works Cited
● “Raising the Minimum Wage to $10.10 Would Benefit 4.7 Million Moms.”
Economic Policy Institute. 2014. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.
● The Women’s Foundation of California. Bridge to Living Wage. WFCA,
2012-2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.
● United States Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938:
Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage. DOL, 2014. Web. 22 Oct.
2014.
● U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 2015 Fair Market
Rent Documentation System. FMR, 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.