Citation
Kalleberg, Arne L.; Edwards, John R.; Freeman, Richard; Kane, Tim; Kosters, Marvin H.; Newman, Katherine S.; Burger, Anna; Sawhill, Isabel V.; O'Connor, Alice; & Bernstein, Jared (2006). Moving out of Low Wage Jobs: Opportunities and Barriers: An Overview of Panel 3. Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, 10(1), 81-119.Abstract
This session focused on the problem of low wage jobs. Instead, he suggested that the government could best address the problem of poverty by providing low-wage people with enhancements to their living standards outside of the labor market, such as through the provision of police protection or income transfers. When you start thinking about poverty in the global context, it is almost embarrassing to have a discussion about poverty here in the U.S. where we often debate the minimum wage, which is about $ 5.15 an hour. I will discuss mainly mobility across income levels, even though I recognize that this is not exactly the same thing as mobility into and out of poverty. I hope they represent something of a research consensus on the amount of mobility in our economy and society. In these ways, increased investment in education and skills helps to raise the incomes of workers across the entire income distribution. My economist friends kept saying to me, "Lower that bar, because $ 1.25 an hour in real wage gains per year is a very high wage gain," and nonetheless, we saw these improvements. When you drive up the minimum wage, you actually take opportunities away from low-skill workers.URL
https://scholar.harvard.edu/freeman/publications/moving-out-low-wage-jobs-opportunities-and-barriers-overview-panel-3Reference Type
Journal ArticleYear Published
2006Journal Title
Employee Rights and Employment Policy JournalAuthor(s)
Kalleberg, Arne L.Edwards, John R.
Freeman, Richard
Kane, Tim
Kosters, Marvin H.
Newman, Katherine S.
Burger, Anna
Sawhill, Isabel V.
O'Connor, Alice
Bernstein, Jared