Universal Living Wage (ULW)
Universal Living Wage (ULW) project was launched by Richard R. Troxell,[1] who crafted the ULW formula in 1997.[2] Richard R. Troxell serves as the chairman of the project.[3]
Overview[edit]
 | This section may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. (October 2020) |
The Universal Living Wage Campaign is an ongoing campaign, launched by Richard R. Troxell, to revise the federal minimum wage and its random selection of a wage rate that causes economic homelessness across the United States.[4]
The Universal Living Wage, ULW, is based on a formula crafted in 1997 intended to fix the Federal Minimum Wage (FMW) and shift it from the current practice of one wage amount for the entire United States to a system that indexes the FMW to the local cost of housing, wherever that wage is paid throughout the nation.
The ULW mathematical formula and concept were crafted by Richard R. Troxell using a three-pronged approach using existing government guidelines:
- Work a 40-hour week
- Spend no more than 30% of one's monthly budget on housing
- Utilizing the Housing and Urban Development, HUD, Section 8 Fair Market Rent, FMR, in the area where the work is done.
The formula ensures that any individual working 40 hours per week, (be it from one or more jobs), will be able to afford basic food, clothing, shelter (an efficiency apartment), and public transportation, wherever that work is done throughout the United States.[5] This creates a cost of living standard.
The current Congressional practice of picking a politically-based wage amount with no connection to any measure or standard lacks justification. This approach often results in homelessness even for full-time minimum wage workers. Furthermore, failure to index or link this national wage to any relative measure such as the cost of living or the cost of housing (seen as the single most expensive item in the budget of every American), will continue to result in a less than living wage amount. Failure to link or index to a cost of living standard will cause this failure to be repeated over and over again as inflation of housing prices continue to rise.
However, by indexing (linking) the wage to the local cost of housing throughout the United States, it ensures that if an individual works 40 hours a week under the Universal Living Wage, they will be able to afford basic housing (an efficiency apartment) no matter where that work is done throughout the US because as the rent rises, so will the work related wage.
Based on statistical surveys,[6] the desire to work is shown to be strong. Given the opportunity presented by the Universal Living Wage, that if applied, it can be seen that homelessness can end for over a million homeless citizens while simultaneously preventing economic homelessness for all 11.8 million minimum wage workers.
In addition to finally fixing the Federal minimum wage once and for all, the Universal Living Wage will end economic homelessness for over a third of those currently experiencing homelessness, and it will help to jump-start the nation's economy through the construction industry.
At present, there is a national shortage of affordable housing. This results in part to the condition of homelessness. This occurs because the insufficiency of low wages and its low buying power fail to afford individuals an adequate supply of funds to rent that affordable housing. According to the Federal Government, 44% of those experiencing homelessness are working at some point during the week. It is currently estimated by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty that 3.5 million people will pass through homelessness during the next year. Again, it is estimated that at least half of that population can work and wants to work. Once the wage becomes linked to the local cost of housing for each individual, it will empower them to be economically housed but not get into housing as the needed affordable housing does not yet exist. Currently, the nation's business community is not creating housing at this economic level as there is an insufficient number of monied consumers to make the creation of that housing viable to the investor. When it is realized that there is a pool of potential renters (with sufficient income) who need housing, the construction industry (both locally and nationally) will respond by creating that housing.
By linking the minimum wage to the local cost of housing, using the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and HUD Section 8 program, the Universal Living Wage formula allows individuals working 40 units of work in a week to afford basic rental housing, wherever they are based. The ULW Formula is used by Just Economics and Orange County Living Wage.[7][8][9]
In 2002, the City of Austin and Travis County adopted a resolution in support of a Universal Living Wage at the federal level. The project is also endorsed by the Hunger Action Network.[10]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Social justice takes back seat to hot-button political issues_80904". Baptist Standard. 2004-08-06. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ↑ "Minimum Wage Increase Is Focus of Universal Living Wage's 2nd Annual "Bridge The Economic Gap Day"". PRWeb. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ↑ "Universal Living Wage | House The Homeless". Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ↑ House the Homeless, Inc. "House the Homeless Video Collection An Inventory of the Collection". legacy.lib.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ↑ "Highlights w/ Richard Troxell, Author of Looking Up at the Bottomline". Zane Safrit. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ↑ "House the Homeless & Universal Living Wage". Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ↑ Shell, Hank (2012-05-31). "Area living-wage program 'largest in the nation'". Carolina Public Press. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ↑ "Orange County Living Wage Raised to Nearly $15 An Hour". Chapelboro.com. 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ↑ "Living Wage Rate". Just Economics. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
- ↑ Garrison, Marjory (2004-05-01). "A Minimum Matter of Survival". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
This article "Universal Living Wage (ULW)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Universal Living Wage (ULW). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
