Living Wages

Living Wages

Living wage policies have been established in cities, counties, school districts, states and other public agencies throughout the country to lift workers out of poverty.  Most living wage laws set minimum wage and benefit standards for public contracts, subsidies and leaseholders on public land. Several are based upon a geographic zone. Today there are over 150 such laws in place.

Commentary

Living Wage has brought good competition to Los Angeles International Airport

L.A.'s Living Wage Ordinance Isn't a Job Killer

September 21, 2011
minimum wage photo

Crying Wolf Over Higher Wages in a Time of Need

December 09, 2010

Cry Wolf Quotes

A poorly crafted ‘living wage’ plan could achieve the opposite of its well-intentioned social goals. It could result in fewer good-paying jobs in the city, and less opportunity at the entry level. It could drive up the cost of city programs, leaving fewer resources to help lower-income families.

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Editorial. San Francisco Chronicle.
11/11/1998 | Full Details | Law(s): Living Wage

As if New York's economy wasn't already stressed enough, there's a renewed push in the City Council for a local ‘living wage’ law that could hinder the city's economic renewal while reducing job opportunities for the very people it is supposed to help.

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McMahon, E.J. New York Post.
03/20/2002 | Full Details | Law(s): Living Wage

The loony-tuners are at it again. The cost of doing business in Oakland is already about the highest in the state. Compared with other cities, adoption of the proposed [living wage] ordinance will drive the cost off the charts.

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Randy Hamilton professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Oakland Tribune.
11/24/1997 | Full Details | Law(s): Living Wage

Entire industries could be wiped out or move overseas.

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Gary Mendoza, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Los Angeles.
11/23/1998 | Full Details | Law(s): Living Wage

Related Laws and Rules

Evidence

Backgrounders & Briefs

Living Wage Policy Brief: Stephanie Luce

Living wage ordinances have helped thousands of workers and tiresome cry wolf claims are wrong.

Resources

Political Economy Research Institute is a think tank focused on a variety of subjects such as diverse financial regulation, living wages and environmental protection.

University of California-Berkeley Labor Center carries out research on labor and workplace-related issues.

The National Employment Law Project is an organization that promotes economically just public policy in the face of the prevailing trends of the law several decades.