How Much Should We Earn?
| September 22, 2011 | Posted by Jenny Ann Fraser under The Art of Kindness |
I write often about acceptance, and being in the moment.
Every day, I find that accepting the small things that string together the hours of my day, makes my life much less stressful, and much more pleasant.
Whatever happens, from an encounter with a difficult customer, to being given tasks that I really dislike, acceptance is key to maintaining peace.
But, I am not a person who will accept anything no matter what. When things are wrong, I feel it is my duty to speak up, even if doing so will not change things.
Generally, it is the big things that get me riled, and these are things that I wish more people would get riled about.
One issue that has plagued me most of my adult life, is the issue of wages.
What is a fair wage for work performed?
My answer to that question is that a fair wage is no-one who works, no matter how menial the job, should be paid less that the cost of basic living. If you work, you should at least be able to provide food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and education for your children. Period. Anything less than that is inhumane, and doesn’t benefit the rest of the world.
So now, we’re not really talking about me anymore as I am rich beyond imagination compared to most of the world. I am probably fairly well off compared to most that I pass every day in the street in the neighbourhood that I work in.
What worries me most though, is the fact that so many skilled workers barely earn enough, even in developed countries like ours. If we cannot pay these workers a “living wage” then how can we hope to solve the bigger issues of global poverty?
At 42, I am highly skilled, experienced and mature worker, yet, I wouldn’t qualify for a one-bedroom apartment in a poor area of town on my current wage, and with a less than 1% vacancy rate, I would probably be out of luck as any such apartment would go to a person with a higher income.
I live on about 25% less than the Provincial average. If I cannot do better in the future, I will have no hope of retiring. Ever. Should I become to old or get ill and no longer be able to work, I will become another welfare statistic living in Government housing. This is not the future I planned for when I worked my youth away so that I could grow and develop myself
I however, am extremely lucky. I know many who have it worse, and due to age, physical ability, or aptitudes, have little opportunity to make things better. I haven’t yet figured out how to do it, though I am bound and determined to succeed, so I don’t really have any answers for anyone else. I will not accept the outcome of failure as I don’t plan to end my life in any kind of poverty. But the really, why is it so hard?
What bothers me the most, is the fact that this situation of extremely low wages doesn’t seem to concern anyone who is not in that position. The common reaction to my complaint is often one of apathy.
Apparently, my situation is my fault since I didn’t go to University when I was young, or, if I did go to University like so many I know, I must have studied the wrong discipline and therefore I and all like me have earned my financial insecurity…
I truly don’t understand how anyone who works hard and has skills could be considered unworthy of earning a living?
I also don’t understand how those who are not in this position think it is perfectly fine that so many don’t earn fairly.
I have listened to the diatribe of those who worked hard to put themselves through school and and assume that anyone who does not have what they have didn’t work hard. I know that this is not at all true, but I also know that If I were these people, I would be worried about the number of impoverished retirees they will have to support with their tax dollars later in life.
An education is a privilege. It is a privilege of money, scholastic ability, and personal aptitudes. It is not only a privilege of choice. We can only make choices when we are aware that choices exist, which means we do not all have the same level playing field. If it were, everyone would study to be a professional, and we would be over-run with unemployed professionals. The more people there are who are capable of doing a job, the lower the wages are, so I would be in no hurry to see a world where everyone is educated in exactly the same way.
I wonder how it is, that we can devalue the labour of other human beings when we so depend on it.
Enjoy the theatre, Ballet, or other arts? Well, you’d have nothing to enjoy without the incredible hard work of the performers, artists,technicians, and all other staff from the ushers to the box-office workers who make it happen.
Do you think that the company who services your furnace charges too much? I would say that if my furnace were to break in the middle of the night I hope to God that I’m getting a highly skilled technician who is not worrying about feeding his children while he works on the gas-lines in my house.
I could go on and on.
Those who are inclined to work with their hands or be otherwise creative, are not lesser individuals. These are the people that are most needed to build the home you live in, the car you drive, the clothes that you wear. These are the people who serve your meal when you are too tired to cook, or just want a nice evening out. These are the people who work for transit services, drive taxis and provide means for you to get to where you need to go, should your car fail and without them, civilization would fail. Problem with your computer, smart phone or other technological device? Who do you call?
If a job exists at all, it exists for a reason and we should respect the people who fill those positions because they make our lives better. If you find the service you get is not up to par, consider how much that person may or may not be earning and ask yourself how motivated you would be if you had to work 12 hour days just to keep a modest roof over your head, or what calibre of employee a company can attract paying minimal wages.
As I wrote at the beginning of this post: I will speak up when something is wrong even if doing so will not change anything. The thing is, that I think it might.
It might make a difference if more people began to think about the inequities among us and at least, think more of those we share this planet with.
Maybe, we will evolve to a place where we are more concerned with the welfare of the world due to an understanding that it impacts the quality of our own lives. Then we might be more committed to supporting companies that provide fair wages and treat employees well than those who provide us with the cheapest services.
At the very least, maybe, we will begin to see each person we encounter as a human soul who simply by virtue of being alive has the right to the opportunity to provide for him or herself and those they love.
Maybe…
Good words Jenny Ann, I have 2 professional degrees, but have never been paid appropriately for my work or received benefits. I always had to supplement my income with waitressing, cleaning, and seasonal work. I worked very hard, and got my children things and experiences that truly helped them to succeed where I could not. At 62, I am at a very scary point in my life because apparently I am now not worthy of health ins. or living benefits. I am not even making a wage from my internet work….I am proud of my impressive list of accomplishments, but can not believe that the Law of Attraction is going to return my efforts with a comfortable retirement.
What you do not mention here, it that as soon as others find out the circumstances they devalue you also. Strange world we live in.
Hi Patricia,
I think it is so sad that the road to security is no-where near as clear and well-defined as some think. It is so true what you say, people do judge you by your financial success and dismiss what doesn\’t translate to money.
I have literally watched a group of professionals dumb down the conversation when they realized that I did not have a degree.
We have far too narrow a view of what success is which is why I think that it is acceptable to pay people low wages.
I worry about the future for everyone if this doesn\’t change!
As an employer, I make it a point to pay at least 1 or 2 dollars above the local wage for the type of work we do. I treat my co-workers like I would want to be treated, plus it builds a positive work environment . Good topic to discuss.
Hi Doug,
You are so right. Paying your employees fair wages does build a positive work environment. Without that I doubt it is really possible to maintain one. So often though, I think that workers are instead intimidated into keeping their mouths closed to keep their jobs.
I know that there are many employers like you out there and hopefully, the larger companies and organizations will catch on to the fact that this is necessary for their success. I think what slows this process down, (besides greed) is the fact that so many believe that workers are some sort of lower-class who shouldn't expect much…
Thank you for stopping by as always. I think I will be writing more about this in the future!
Rampant capitalism, like communism, has collateral damage. The worst hit is the middle class; fewer hard-working poor people are getting to that stage. The economic crisis of 1998, and the current economic problems as well, have accelerated this trend and this has been fueled mostly by the greed of the rich and highly educated as the poor and lesser educated are working their asses off to make ends meet but don’t impact the economy as strongly; despite their greater numbers. I fear the next decade will be roller coaster, I hope we can all hang on.
Sadly Greg, I have to agree with you whole-heartedly.
I do think however that we might have more hope if we stopped feeding this out of control machine with our own over-consumption and lack of concern for our welfare as a whole.
This however is not a particularly popular point of view.
Thank you as always for dropping by!
[...] a powerful blog post about how utterly unequal salaries and wages have become in the [...]
“What the market will bear” – this is businesses mantra. They will charge what ever they can get, multiples of 2 , 4, 12, 50. Once a substantial value stream (money) has been created all the immediate surrounding jobs get payed much more – pharmaceuticals/ software/ diamonds … Whether a monopoly, or protected by patents, or created by influence that result is the same, a massive influx of cash. If you want more money for yourself, go where the money is. So what is to be done about this massive inequality? Is there a system that can self-correct this out of balance condition? “Fair Trade”. But how to set up such an ideal across towns, counties, states, countries? What should you charge a person dying of thirst for a bottle of water you bought for a dollar – more than for someone how is not dying of thirst? How is this to be controlled, should it be controlled? Where do ethics and morals come into business decisions? The tricky part of living your ideal is figuring out a system that engenders it. Systems are complex organisms all by themselves, and the unforeseen circumstances and good old Murphy are always there to put a wrench in the works. Japan, the Nordic countries, and Germany have all succeeded in more than one area, I believe a country could do worse than adopt best practices from what has been shown to work. Yes there is hope.
Hi Colin,
You bring up very good points.
My issue, is that we pay into the system that creates the inequality by consuming the way we have been programmed to consume. If we were to become conscious of how we contribute to the inequality and the consequences of the inequality itself we could begin to right some wrongs.
I don’t believe in money as an ethic unto itself, as in just do what makes money and don’t worry about everyone else because that is how we got to where we are now. I live by my ethics not my bank balance as at the end of the day, I have to answer for what I have contributed to this world. And by that I am not talking about some sort of after life, I’m simply talking about my own feelings of self-worth which would dissolve if I am not living up to my own moral code. It isn’t enough to simply be doing well myself and not worry about a system that is falling apart because increased poverty affects the quality of my life even if I am not suffering.
It is a common misconception to think that if you point out a problem that you have to be able to come up with a complete solution and I believe that this leads a lot of people to ignore the problems all together. However, complex problems cannot be solved by one person, but when many put their heads together with a goal of creating something new the potential for positive solutions grows, and there may be no limits on that.
The key is to acknowledge the problems and need for solutions in the first place because without that, there can be no positive change.
Thank you so much for your comments! I hope that you become a regular here as I love your questions. This is exactly the type of dialogue we need as we move forward where we drop the name calling and have real discussions. I hope you stick around! (more posts starting next week!)