A Measure of Fairness: The Economics of Living Wages and Minimum Wages in the United States

In early 2007, there were approximately 140 living wage ordinances in place throughout the United States. Communities around the country frequently debate new proposals of this sort. Additionally, as a result of ballot initiatives, twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia, representing nearly 70 percent of the total U.S. population, maintain minimum wage standards above those set by the federal minimum wage. In A Measure of Fairness, Robert Pollin, Mark Brenner, Jeannette Wicks-Lim, and Stephanie Luce assess how well living wage and minimum wage regulations in the United States serve the workers they are intended to help. Opponents of such measures assert that when faced with mandated increases in labor costs, businesses will either lay off workers, hire fewer low-wage employees in the future, replace low-credentialed workers with those having better qualifications or, finally, even relocate to avoid facing the increased costs being imposed on them. The authors give an overview of living wage and minimum wage implementation in Louisiana, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, and Connecticut to show how these policies play out in the paychecks of workers, in the halls of legislature, and in business ledgers. Based on a decade of research, this volume concludes that living wage laws and minimum wage increases have been effective policy interventions capable of bringing significant, if modest, benefits to the people they were intended to help.

About the Author :
Robert Pollin is Professor of Economics and Codirector of the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He is the author of Contours of Descent and coauthor with Stephanie Luce of The Living Wage. Mark Brenner is Codirector of Labor Notes. Jeannette Wicks-Lim is Assistant Research Professor at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Stephanie Luce is Associate Professor at the Labor Center of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She is coauthor of Fighting for a Living Wage, also from Cornell.

Review :
"As organizers in this movement, we often say 'We don't win because we're right—we win because we out-organize our opponents.' But it also doesn't hurt to be right. This book—like all the great work it compiles—reminds us that we are indeed right. It should make the job of every living wage—organizer that much easier." "Beginning with an insightful, inspiring history of the living wage movement, A Measure of Fairness provides an indispensable and user-friendly guide to understanding the economic consequences of living wage policies. It is a must-read for local activists, economists, and all political leaders concerned with economic justice. Bravo." "Beyond the clear economic arguments and the fascinating presentation of facts, this book's great merit is the authors' deep and sincere concern for those individuals who contribute to the economy to the best of their ability but are rewarded so little." "Robert Pollin and his colleagues give us a thorough and original look at that popular and enduring American institution, the minimum wage. They show that minimum wage hikes have not eliminated jobs or been bad for business, rebutting the naysayers with impeccable econometric evidence. Economists, they make the moral case, too, with powerful normative reasoning." "The study of living wages in the United States has moved from an odd peripheral topic to a major issue in economic policy analysis largely because of the research reported in A Measure of Fairness. This volume defines the issues and provides a glow of empirical sunlight on an economic topic traditionally shrouded with ideology instead of evidence."