To this day, people are always taught that working hard is the key to a better life. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. Indeed, what really bugs me nowadays is hearing so many stories about people working two or more jobs and still have trouble making ends meet. At the same time, I hear conservative-minded politicians saying that the best social program is a job. These are often the same people that say people who are poor are poor because they don't work hard enough, they're lazy, or they made bad choices. While these characteristics may be true of some poor people, there are many other poverty-stricken folks who work very hard, yet still can't find a way to get ahead financially. We often refer to folks in this situation as the "working poor".
Basically, the working poor are people who are employed, but who earn very meager wages and do not receive any other benefits from their work, such as paid holidays or health care coverage. I consider myself to be a conservative-minded person, so I do believe that there are people who are poor because they made bad choices in their lives or because they don't work hard enough. But I also recognize the reality that many people are simply caught in a cycle of poverty that is very difficult to break. Take, for example, fast food workers, who last month waged a massive one day strike in several countries around the world, demanding better wages and working conditions (see: http://www.aljazeera.com/video/americas/2014/05/strike-highlights-fast-food-workers-plight-201451651741606709.html and http://www.aljazeera.com/video/americas/2014/05/us-fast-food-workers-demand-better-pay-20145155216322554.html).
I don't know how any rational person, conservative or otherwise, can say to people like these fast food workers that their jobs are the best social program when the wages they receive aren't even enough to pay for basics like food, rent and utilities. The fact is that for too many people, these low-paying jobs are a path to nowhere, which is why it's no wonder that some folks would rather sit on the rear ends and collect welfare than work at McDonald's for close to the same amount of money that they would receive through government hand-outs. If we want to break the cycle of poverty, and give people the incentive to work at the same time, we need to make sure that all jobs, no matter what they may be, pay a wage that folks can support themselves and their families on - a living wage.
Less than six years ago, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a left-wing think tank, issued a report saying that a living wage in Toronto would be $16.60 per hour (see: A Living Wage for Toronto). Taking into consideration the cost of living increase since this report was published, this living wage would have to be even higher today. Up until the beginning of this month, the minimum wage in Ontario was $10.25 per hour. Anyone making this would still be living 25% below the poverty line according to the Low Income Measure (see: http://www.thestar.com/bigideas/experts/2014/02/15/make_toronto_a_livingwage_city_trish_hennessys_big_idea.html). Effective on the first date of this month, the minimum wage was raised to $11 - a good step, but still not enough for low-income earners to even climb over the province's poverty line. Obviously, we need to do better.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks out there who don't want to see a living wage for all come to fruition. These include big business owners, but also small business owners who say they can't afford such a pay increase and claim that they would have to cut back on employees if forced to do so. In regards to big business, I don't buy this excuse at all. Can anyone seriously tell me that big multinational corporations like McDonald's and Walmart don't make enough money to pay their employees a living wage? What would happen to these big boys if they have to pay their workers fairly? At worst, their CEOs may have to fly first class on a commercial airline instead of flying in a private jet. Oh no! Boo-hoo!
As for smaller businesses whose owners don't make millions of dollars and don't own private jets or luxury yachts, I can understand how such a significant rise in labour costs could impact them. After all, I am a small business owner myself. So I believe that in certain cases, governments should help small businesses so that they can make the transition to paying their employees a living wage without incurring significant losses.
So do I think that the best social program is a job? No. I think the best social program is a good job - a job where someone earns enough to support themselves and their family. A job that doesn't force someone to make a choice between feeding the kids and paying the rent. A job that allows someone to break the cycle of poverty and work towards a better life.
I am not an economist, but I do know that an economy in which people make a decent living and have more disposable income is better than one in which people can't even afford the basics and therefore won't contribute to economic growth. In other words, a vibrant and productive economy is one in which people have good paying jobs, so a living wage just makes sense.
No comments:
Post a Comment