The Living Wage

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the concept of a “living wage.” A living wage is the minimum hourly rate needed to adequately support the wage earner and when combined with another adult, raise a family. The rate varies from state to state and region to region within a state.

In Connecticut, the wage for two adults raising one child would average about $12.00 an hour for each adult. (http://www.livingwage.geog.psu.edu/counties/09003) About $1.75 of each adult’s wage (15%) goes to child care and therefore it is one of the most costly components of the living wage after housing and transportation. An expansion of public education services for universal preschool and childcare programs could be implemented allowing a lowering of the living wage accordingly therefore eliminating a higher than required rate for people who do not incur that costly component. Healthcare is another costly component accounting for about $0.81 per hour (6.8%). All workers could be required to participate in a private insurance plan and providers could be solicited to offer minimum plans providing basic coverage at a predetermined contractual cost to the participant.

The living wage could be used to properly put our society’s true cost structure in order and instill personal accountability and responsibility. With a living wage, welfare benefits and their associated bureaucratic support structures could be significantly reduced and/or eliminated. Social assistance could truly be limited to those who need it, the seriously disabled and the elderly. Everyone else would no longer have any excuse for not working because even the high school dropout and the unskilled worker could find employment that would provide them with a means to take care of themselves. When coupled with another working adult, the living wage allows even those at the bottom of the wage spectrum to support raising a child. Without the availability of welfare, the incentive to have more children than one can afford would be removed and if bigger families were desired then one would be motivated to improve their skill set and look for opportunities to move up the wage scale.

In my opinion, if constructed properly through appropriate vetting, research, and debate the living wage could result in smaller government, a lower of tax rates, incentives for self-improvement, and a higher degree of global competitiveness.