Full Employment at Living Wages

Abstract

The theme of this article is true full employ ment : the opportunity for all to work for living wages. Under the heading of a full employment policy, we reject the creation of substandard jobs, no matter how many. A policy of guaranteed employment that fails to provide for living wage levels could easily turn into a device for forcing reluctant workers into substandard jobs. A true full employment policy must rest on three principles: (1) a guarantee of the right to useful job opportunities for all workers; (2) the creation of standards for family living wages, at least for principal wage earners, since a pure employment policy with no proper wage standards will merely succeed in reproducing poverty; and (3) a com prehensive framework of manpower, production and capac ity planning. Without this, a job guarantee at living wages is sure to fail, because the task of full employment policy is enormous. It must not merely create millions of jobs; it must upgrade tens of millions.