The Case for the Living Wage PDF
Preview The Case for the Living Wage
The Case for the Living Wage THE CASE FOR THE LIVING WAGE Jerold L. Waltman Algora Publishing New York © 2004 by Algora Publishing. All Rights Reserved www.algora.com No portion of this book (beyond what is permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the United States Copyright Act of 1976) may be reproduced by any process, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the express written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 0-87586-302-7 (softcover) ISBN: 0-87586-303-5 (hardcover) ISBN: 0-87586-304-3 (ebook) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Waltman, Jerold L., 1945- The case for the living wage / Jerold Waltman. p. cm. ISBN 0-87586-302-7 (softcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-87586-303-5 (hardcov- er : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-87586-304-3 (ebook) 1. Minimum wage—United States. 2. Minimum wage—Great Britain. I. Title. HD4918.W264 2004 331.2'3'0973—dc22 2004012894 Living Wage: Hardworking cart collector © Markku Lahdesmaki/CORBIS Photographer: Markku Lahdesmaki Date Photographed: July 17, 2001 Printed in the United States Dedicated to the Memory of Monsignor John A. Ryan (1869-1945) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS One of the most pleasant, and humbling, aspects of writing a book is reflecting back on all the help you have received. Perhaps my greatest debt is to the Aubrey Lucas Faculty Development Fund at the University of Southern Mississippi. It provided invaluable resources for travel to Australia and Britain during the early stages of the research. The librarians at the University of Southern Mississippi responded to my continual requests for information with their usual efficiency and good humor. About halfway through this project I moved to Baylor University. No academic could ask for a more congenial and lively environment, nor for a better library staff to work with. A special word of thanks must go to the people in the interlibrary loan department, who tracked down many obscure works. Jenice Langston, the Administrative Assistant in the Department of Political Science, and Paul Deng, my graduate assistant, went far above the call of duty in preparing the figures and tables. I was graciously hosted during a trip to Australia by Ian Watson, Ron Callus, John Buchanan, Merilyn Bryce, Linda Cowen, and the entire staff of the University of Sydney's Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training. The holdings in their library were second only to the quality of the conversations I was privileged to have there. I have also accumulated many debts in Britain. Victor Patterson of the Department of Trade and Industry has ably instructed me in many features of the minimum wage. Bharti Patel, Jeff Masters, and Tim Bickerstaffe of the now defunct Low Pay Unit were a continual source of help and encouragement. Deborah Littman of Unison provided both insight and aid at several critical points. Donley Studlar, Executive Secretary of the British Politics Group, helped point me to some polling data. ix The Case for the Living Wage I am always pleasantly surprised by how much academics are willing to help each other. As but one special example, I e-mailed Martin Evans of the University of Bath, whom I have never met, about some technical data. He wrote an immediate and lengthy response, and pointed me toward some additional information as well. I also want to thank Martin De Mers of Algora Publishing for his faith in the project, his suggestions for additional material, and his kind patience with my missed delivery dates. The entire editorial staff has shepherded this manuscript through the production phase with remarkable craftsmanship. The book is better because of all these people. Of course, none of them bears any responsibility for the interpretations I have made of the information and help they have provided. My wife Diane has listened to many ruminations on the living wage. Her belief in the project never flagged, and I am grateful for her patience during the many times I was preoccupied and/or absent. A final word about the man to whom the book is dedicated, Monsignor John A. Ryan (1869-1945). His 1906 book The Living Wage: Its Ethical and Economic Aspects was the first to put the case for a living wage. Throughout his distinguished career, he remained committed to it as a necessary centerpiece of any progressive program of economic reform. In a sense, then, this book is a near-centennial tribute to his pioneering efforts. My hope is that if someone publishes a book on the living wage at the beginning of the next century, it will be a historical account of how it was adopted. x
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