As an alternative to the minimum wage, some localities have instituted a “living wage” requirement in which employers must pay a wage designed to ensure low-wage workers and their families can live above the poverty level. However, this effort has met with stiff resistance from some interest groups, and generated considerable debate among economists about whether the living wage ordinances are the best form of government intervention to help low wage workers. Your assignment this week is to respond to the key questions below. Key questions: What specifically do “living wage” ordinances call for? How is the “living wage’ different from the “minimum wager Who is helped, who is hurt by a living wage requirement? What underlying data is used to justify a living wage requirement? What are the long run impacts of a living wage requirement?
