06
Mar
2001
Over the last decade our economy has grown dramatically. In the face of such prosperity, we have a just and reasonable duty to ask how well our nation's wealth reaches the working families who have helped build this robust economy.
When prosperity is not equitably distributed, families are in danger. Economic stress is a leading factor in the breakup of marriages. Children and their mothers bear the brunt of inequality, and in spite of prosperity, the number of children in Iowa living in poverty has increased 23.2 percent since 1993. Iowa in fact ranks 38th in average pay, behind our neighbors in Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Even where families can make ends meet, many barely do so. One event?job loss, pregnancy, illness, and death in the family, not to mention divorce?can throw families into acute poverty. Economic stress and uncertainty are leading causes of divorce and are highly correlated with domestic violence and crime. Low wages have ill effects well beyond individual families and tear at the fiber of communities.
We tend to associate poverty with unemployment, but this is not always the case. Second Harvest, the nation's largest hunger relief organization, found that 39% of all households receiving emergency food in 1997 had at least one adult with a paying job. In Scott County, research conducted by Churches United in 1997 found that a family of four would need an annual income of $24,112 to pay for necessities only. In 1999, over 20,000 households in Scott County made less than $25,000, many if not most, households of 4 persons or more.
Our national minimum wage is $5.15 per hour. The usual wage for entry-level jobs (and some beyond that) tends to be around $7 to $8 per hour. The 1997 Churches United figure breaks down to about $11.50 per hour, full-time, without benefits, $10 per hour with benefits. Other research shows that rent for a three-bedroom apartment in Iowa requires that a person earn $11.86 per hour. But almost half?47 percent?of wage earners in Iowa take home less than $10 per hour.
There is something wrong with this situation, but it is not something we face alone or without alternatives. Communities around the United States, in large and small cities alike, have organized to pass Living Wage statutes?a wage that allows families to live in dignity, not at or below the poverty line.
In light of this, we challenge our lawmakers in Davenport to pass a Living Wage Statute, applying, in a progressive manner, to city workers and employees on all contracts the city signs. The Living Wage must bring all working people to a threshold of dignity, without discouraging higher wages or affecting existing wages that are already above the living wage standard. The Living Wage is a realistic, efficient, and proven means of balancing our desire for a competitive economy with a standard of living that allows every working family a chance for the kind of life we all aspire to.
When prosperity is not equitably distributed, families are in danger. Economic stress is a leading factor in the breakup of marriages. Children and their mothers bear the brunt of inequality, and in spite of prosperity, the number of children in Iowa living in poverty has increased 23.2 percent since 1993. Iowa in fact ranks 38th in average pay, behind our neighbors in Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Even where families can make ends meet, many barely do so. One event?job loss, pregnancy, illness, and death in the family, not to mention divorce?can throw families into acute poverty. Economic stress and uncertainty are leading causes of divorce and are highly correlated with domestic violence and crime. Low wages have ill effects well beyond individual families and tear at the fiber of communities.
We tend to associate poverty with unemployment, but this is not always the case. Second Harvest, the nation's largest hunger relief organization, found that 39% of all households receiving emergency food in 1997 had at least one adult with a paying job. In Scott County, research conducted by Churches United in 1997 found that a family of four would need an annual income of $24,112 to pay for necessities only. In 1999, over 20,000 households in Scott County made less than $25,000, many if not most, households of 4 persons or more.
Our national minimum wage is $5.15 per hour. The usual wage for entry-level jobs (and some beyond that) tends to be around $7 to $8 per hour. The 1997 Churches United figure breaks down to about $11.50 per hour, full-time, without benefits, $10 per hour with benefits. Other research shows that rent for a three-bedroom apartment in Iowa requires that a person earn $11.86 per hour. But almost half?47 percent?of wage earners in Iowa take home less than $10 per hour.
There is something wrong with this situation, but it is not something we face alone or without alternatives. Communities around the United States, in large and small cities alike, have organized to pass Living Wage statutes?a wage that allows families to live in dignity, not at or below the poverty line.
In light of this, we challenge our lawmakers in Davenport to pass a Living Wage Statute, applying, in a progressive manner, to city workers and employees on all contracts the city signs. The Living Wage must bring all working people to a threshold of dignity, without discouraging higher wages or affecting existing wages that are already above the living wage standard. The Living Wage is a realistic, efficient, and proven means of balancing our desire for a competitive economy with a standard of living that allows every working family a chance for the kind of life we all aspire to.
