Documents Hirsch, Donald 5 results

"Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe how the voluntary living wage (LW) in the UK is set. It examines how this calculation relates to contemporary approaches to setting wage floors, both in relation to their goal of supporting adequate living standards and in relation to the place of wage floors in the labour mark.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines how compulsory and voluntary wage floors are being determined, in the UK and in particular the role of public consensus in contributing to the calculation and adoption of a LW. It then reflects on the future sustainability of a system of wage floors in which the concept of the LW plays a significant role.

Findings
The central finding is that widespread support for wages delivering socially acceptable minimum living standards has transformed the context in which low pay is being addressed in the UK. The LW idea has stimulated more decisive efforts to do so; however, if a compulsory version of a LW were to reach a level shown to be harming jobs, this could seriously undermine such efforts. Moreover, the extent to which adequate wages are compatible with high employment levels can also be influenced by state support for households, especially tax credits and Universal Credit.

Originality/value
The paper clarifies how the setting of the UK LW contributes to objectives related both to living standards and to labour markets, and critically addresses some key issues raised."

"The "living wage" is an old idea that has experienced a dramatic resurgence of political popularity in recent years. The underlying logic of the concept is quite clear: it is a wage that provides workers with enough income to live on at some level considered adequate. However, in practice the term has become blurred with that of the "minimum wage" and in its implementation it has lacked a consistent meaning despite being widely used as a campaigning slogan.

This short primer traces the origins of the concept of the living wage and seeks to explain the current rise in its fortunes as an economic instrument with a social objective. It examines its impact on labor markets and wage levels, explores how it has been applied, and assesses whether it is an effective measure for raising living standards. Drawing on case studies from France, the Netherlands, the USA, and the UK, The Living Wage offers a broad-ranging analysis of the debates, policy developments and limitations of wage floors in developed economies and will appeal to a wide readership in economics, public policy and sociology, as well as those working in non-profit and non-governmental organizations."

"The success of the contemporary ‘living wage' movement has been highlighted by the UK government's decision to increase the statutory minimum wage for over-25s sharply, in the name of improving living standards. This breaks with neoliberal reluctance to intervene in labour markets, yet raises difficult issues centring around whether minimum hourly pay rates are suited to promoting adequate household incomes. At worst, ‘living wages' could distract from other policies with this objective. This article acknowledges recent critiques of the living wage as an anti-poverty measure, but demonstrates that, in combination with other policies, wage floors can play a crucial role. It shows that low pay and inadequate working incomes overlap substantially. The article argues that governments promising that work will deliver adequate living standards need a clearer narrative in which pay, public transfers/subsidies and sufficient levels of employment combine to deliver minimum acceptable living standards for working families. "

"At a time of rising cost of living, wide wage inequalities and widespread in-work poverty, the demand for a living wage has heightened. The concept of a “living wage” has some limitations, including that it is operationalised in a variety of ways. This variety may serve the purpose of making it a more relevant instrument, typically by providing information on the cost of living that firms and social partners may embed in their wage-setting processes; however, the variety can also increase a lack of transparency. The paper reviews some of the most common methodologies, by identifying points of convergence and divergence. Living wage estimates produced by the Fair Wage Network are then put into context by benchmarking them against internationally comparable wage metrics and poverty lines. Finally, the paper presents a number of critical steps to strengthen the concept of a living wage. This paper does not assess the economic cost or feasibility of living wages, not at the firm level or at the broader industry and economy level. This paper advises using the living wage as one of the pieces of information that – when properly contextualised – could inform wage negotiations and wage policies set in consultation with social partners."