The Living Wage

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/ER-07-2017-0178
Date02 October 2017
Pages915-916
Published date02 October 2017
AuthorJereme Snook
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law
Book review
The Living Wage
Donald Hirsch and Laura Valadez-Martinez
Agenda Publishing
Newcastle upon Tyne
2017
ISBN 978-1-911116-46-2
Keywords Pay, Labour, Laws and legislation, National economy
Review DOI 10.1108/ER-07-2017-0178
The construct of a living wageis one that has resonated across the industrialised nations
since ideas of waged labour emerged. The promotion and enforcement of a livingwage is
grounded in achieving fair rates of pay, but also includes the reduction of poverty, hardship
and disease. These ideas underpin the necessity for a recognised and enforceable
living wage.Theliving wage, therefore, is more than an idea or aspiration for modern
economies;it entails wider debates around,for example, productivityin the economy, morality
in paying a wage that protects worker interests and the maintenance of legal enforcement
regimes to ensure its relevance. Important too are the questions about how we interpret the
distinctions between minimum (i.e. compulso ry) and living (i.e. adequate) wages.
As campaigns for living wages gain support with workers and governments, demands are
made for legislating for higher minimums. The balance must then be reached to implement
wages that do not have a damaging impact upon employment. This situation is starkly
revealed by the UK care sector which estimatesthat the national minimum wage (NMW) will
add £300 million to local authority care costs in 2016/2017, rising to £800 million by 2020
(Local Government Association, 2015). Studies show that care workers are likely to be paid
below the NMW alongsideincreasing trends towards zerohours contracts (Bessa et al., 2013).
Donald Hirsch and Laura Valadez-Martinez have written a comprehensive review of the
history, development and implementation of the living wagein the global industrialised
economies. This book informs the reader about the origins, enactment and expectations for the
living wagepositioned against the diverse backgrounds of economic and social changes in
the global economy. The authorsown views are that the living wageis an hourly rate of pay
considered sufficient to produce an acceptable standard of living. However, their own analysis
in later chapters shows the many ways in which the living wageimpacts upon modern
workers. The chapters are organised in a logical and structured fashion that allows readers to
understand why realising the living wageis now a global movement, with interesting analysis
of relevant debates upon incomes and social policy alongside those of sustainable living.
The book provides a thematic approach to the living wageencompassing its
history, its public advocates and promoters. There are examples of metrics used to
define a living wage”– for example, household expenses and budgets, or definitions of
poverty highlighting that the need for a living wagecanbelinkedtonumerous
working conditions and economic circumstances.
Employee Relations
Vol. 39 No. 6, 2017
pp. 915-916
Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
© Jereme Snook. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and
create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to
full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at
http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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Book review

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