Review by Choice Review
This volume is a hybrid of an edited and coauthored book, comprising new and edited essays by longtime proponents of the "living wage" movement. The authors (Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst) regard the living wage as much a moral as an economic concept, though they likely would be satisfied were the hourly wage set between $12 and $20. Two of the authors, Robert Pollin and Stephanie Luce, wrote The Living Wage (CH, Jan'99, 36-2863); Luce also authored Fighting for a Living Wage (CH, Apr'05, 42-4744). Most of the book contains previously written estimates of the effects of various living wage mandates at selected US cites and states. Focusing on the ratio of increased labor costs to total cost, the authors find that the impact of living wages of the magnitudes already passed in some 140 locations is very small. Thus they conclude that there are few if any negative effects on employment of low-wage workers, particularly if employers and customers step up to shoulder the burden. Were their econometric analysis stronger and the language less smarmy, the book might be more persuasive, but as is, it demonstrates why the living wage movement is so controversial. Good bibliography. Summing Up: Optional. General readers; upper-division undergraduate through professional audiences. H. Kasper Oberlin College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
