| The Universal Living Wage Campaign is a committee of House the Homeless, Inc. It is a nonprofit, charitable organization. HTH is comprised of homeless and formerly homeless citizens and those dedicated to ending homelessness in our life time. Our goal is to root out the core causes of homelessness, isolate them, and take a pragmatic approach to ensure long-term systemic change. We believe that ending homelessness will not just benefit the individuals and families most affected, but it will also benefit business and society in general. We believe that there are three areas on which we need to focus in order to accomplish this task. They are Affordable Housing, Living Wages, and Health Care. We believe that if we can solve these instabilities at this the lowest level, we can stabilize and benefit all affected parties. |
| At present, we are focused on Living Wages. We view our society as a yard stick made up of three foot segments. On either end of the yardstick, we are in the "consumer" stage. We are initially, nonproductive as children and students while we are getting our degrees and learning our trades. On the other end, we are again in a nonproductive stage where as seniors we are relying on our previous societal contributions. Only the middle foot, the "worker foot" is producing. In fact it is sustaining the other two societal stages. |
| At present our society is in trouble. The middle foot has become destabilized. Three and one half million people have fallen out of that worker stage and become drastically under productive. They now comprise our nation's homeless citizens. Furthermore, there are 10.1 million minimum wage workers in this country who are at risk of becoming homeless. According to the last two Conferences of Mayors' Reports, no one can afford housing in any city in this country at the current federal minimum wage of $5.15. The implications are alarming. If the producing segment continues to shrink while the consuming segments continue to expand, the economic strains will prove over powering. The "yard stick" will break. |
| Congress, comprised of both Democrats and Republicans, has been unable to select a single wage amount that will address this crises without simultaneously jeopardizing the small businesses in this country. Small businesses are the life blood of the minimum wage worker in this country. Clearly, there is a symbiotic relationship between business and its minimum wage employees. Business needs stabilized, ready to work, workers and at the same time, workers need reliable work that puts a roof over their heads. As a result, we have devised a single national formula that reflects both the needs of the worker and businesses alike. |
| However, not everyone agrees with this perspective. For example, one group identifying itself as the Employment Policies Institute [not to be confused with the Economic Policy Institute (EPI)], holds a different perspective. |
| The Employment Policies Institute believes that the "Living Wage Campaign" which it refers to as "the spontaneous grassroots, national movement to create a living wage is an effort to 'force' employers to pay wage rates based on some definition of 'need' rather than 'skills.'" |
| That's exactly right. Minimum wage jobs which are the focus of this national campaign, do not require skilled workers. Minimum wage jobs inherently involve unskilled workers. But we must ask the ethical question, should workers be forced to take on 2nd full time jobs or work while living under a bridge? Rather, our campaign is based on the moral premise that anyone working a 40 hour week should be able to afford the most basic housing in whatever city that work is performed. This is the 1st step in the long march in which workers pursue the American Dream by working hard, sacrificing and increasing their education. |
| We merely have to reflect back to the early 1980s before we had spiking pockets of urban inflation to find a time when the federal minimum wage made basic housing attainable. We wish to reestablish that relationship. Furthermore, we believe that by indexing wages to the local cost of housing throughout the United States, we can prevent the kind of disjointed wage disparity that workers face today from reoccurring in the future. |
| The goal of the website is to spur a national discussion that will bring about a full and fair exposition of the pertinent facts relating to economic stability for minimum wage workers. We hope this will enable the general public to form independent opinions or conclusions relating to this issue. We offer one such solution and earnestly seek all others. |
| To get a more complete understanding of the Employment Policies Institute perspective please visit www.livingwage.com. Compare both perspectives and decide for yourself about the reasonableness of a Universal Living Wage. |
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In Unity There
is Strength,
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Richard R.
Troxell National Chairman
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| Nashville, TN (AP) |
| A survey of homeless families in four Southern states found that nearly half the adults were employed, a phenomenon attributed to the strong economy of the last decade. |
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The survey was conducted in 14 homeless shelters run by Volunteers of America in Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. There were 202 homeless families in those shelters; they included a total of 370 children. The survey found that 42 percent of the adults were employed, and that 28 percent of them had never received public assistance. |
| Barbara Banaszynski, chief operations officer for Volunteers of America in Kentucky and Tennessee, said the number of homeless families has grown over the past decade, as has the number of employed adults in those families. |
| She said the main reasons appear to be a shortage of housing subsidies and of landlords willing to accept subsidized rents in an era when free market rents pay more. She also said a shortage of subsidized child care works to keep many poor families homeless. |
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"Ten years ago homeless families were not really on the radar screen. Usually they were single men, usually with drug and alcohol problems," Banaszynski said. "The big change is that the cycle of poverty has hit families that ten years ago were the working poor. Now they're the working homeless." |
| According to the survey the median income for working homeless families in the four states is $988/mo. Volunteers of America figures the cost of housing, food and child care exceeds that by about 20 percent. |
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"This trend of working poor families becoming homeless needs the attention of local, state and national policy makers," said Charles Could, Volunteers of America president. "Affordable housing, a living wage, childcare subsidies, food stamps and programs that help families rebuild their lives will not only help families living in poverty, but will help build stronger communities and a better future for all Americans." |
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The survey, The Other America: Homeless Families in the Shadow of the New Economy*, was conducted by the Institute for Children and Poverty, the research and training division of Homes for the Homeless in New York City. |
| The data were collected in conjunction with Volunteers for America, a national nonprofit organization and one of the nation's largest providers of affordable housing. |
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*This report must be read with Adobe®Reader® . Go to Homes For the Homeless, and click on RESEARCH REPORTS in the navigation sidebar. |
by Universal Living Wage
PO Box 2312, Austin, TX 78768. All rights reserved.
This site last updated January 15, 2004. Thank you for visiting