Documents living wage 88 results

"The 2023 annual review of minimum wages was prepared in the context of unprecedented inflation across Europe. While this led to hefty increases in nominal wage rates in many countries, it was in many cases not enough to maintain workers' purchasing power. Based on developments over the last decade, this report shows that, overall, minimum wage earners in nearly all countries saw their purchasing power rising, the gap between their wages and average wages narrowing, and to some degree growth exceeding labour productivity development. Despite the short-term losses in real terms, these longer-term gains did not disappear in 2023. Even in the context of rising inflation, the processes of wage setting did not change substantially. But the early impacts of the EU directive on adequate minimum wages are noticeable, with more countries electing to use the international ‘indicative reference values' mentioned in the directive – 50% of the average or 60% of the median wage – when determining their targets for new levels. This year's report presents, for the first time, an in-depth insight into net minimum wages for single adults, through the EUROMOD tax–benefit microsimulation model, while presenting the latest research findings on minimum wages, published during 2022."

"This book tells the story behind President Franklin D. Roosevelt's use of the phrase "living wage" in a variety of speeches, letters, and statements, and examines the degree to which programs of the New Deal reflected the ideas of a living wage movement that existed in the US for almost three decades before Roosevelt was elected president. Far from being a side issue, the previously unexplored living wage debate sheds light on the New Deal philosophy of social justice by identifying the value judgments behind its policies. Moving chronologically through history, this book's highlights include the revelation of a living wage agenda under the War Industry Board (WIB)'s National War Labor Board (NWLB) during World War I, the unearthing of long-forgotten literature from the 1920s and 30s that formed the foundation of Roosevelt's statements on a living wage, and the examination of contemporary studies that used a simple living wage formula combining collective bargaining, social insurance, and minimum wage as a standard for social justice used to measure the impact of New Deal polices."

"This article considers World War I era labor insurgency through an examination of the 1920 ‘outlaw' switchmen's strike, one of the largest rank-and-file revolts of the postwar strike wave. Drawing upon Bureau of Investigation surveillance reports, the article argues the strike represented not so much an expression of a ‘syndicalist impulse' as a struggle over the definition of the new unionism and the ideological legacy of the war. Inspired by the wartime rhetoric of Americanism and industrial democracy, pressed by the rising cost of living, and frustrated with the failure of the state and their parent unions to deliver living wages, the insurgents briefly succeeded in building democratic, cross-craft unions. The rebel unionists failed, but the ‘Outlaw Strike' arguably was as important as the later and larger 1922 national shopmen's strike in the way it highlighted issues of wages, union democracy, and employee representation."

"The concept of a living wage is defined by quality of life and work life, not merely economic subsistence. It extends to adequate participation in organizational and social life. In development economics, these crucial components of “decent work” connect with “capabilities”, whose development is important to individuals, organizations and society. However, the links between income and capabilities remain unknown, and living wages are often set by fiat. By integrating theories from development studies, management, psychology and employment relations into a single concentric, contingency model, the authors derive a series of propositions with which to test this context-sensitive model in empirical research."

"In the UK, a campaign for the living wage has emerged as a civil society initiative to reduce in-work poverty. This article reports empirical evidence from a study of employers adopting the London Living Wage and the benefits from this intervention, as reported by their workers. Implementation strategies to cover higher wage costs varied, from clients meeting full costs, to reduced employer profit, to reductions in hours and employment. There were strong substitution effects from low to higher qualified workers. The evidence suggests that while there were worker benefits from the living wage, they were not automatic, as higher wage rates did not necessarily translate into higher incomes due to variations in hours of work. Workers reported more in-work benefits, than family or financial benefits. In-work poverty reduction was limited by large concentrations of part-time living wage jobs with few hours, small income increases and the rising costs of living."