Post Thanksgiving Thoughts...

Today's post is a reflection on issues around poverty and how to make a dent in a world-wide problem. I was involved in a very good discussion earlier this week about the potential to create a new training program for folks. The program graduates would be eligible to earn a salary of $10 to $12/hour plus benefits. One of the participants in the meeting raised the point that this was NOT a living wage in the D.C. metro area. She called out attention to a website (www.epinet.org) that allows one to calculate a living wage based on number of wage earners and number of children. It was eye opening to say the least.

This discernment brings up a really important aspect of changing the poverty equation. That aspect is that we have to rethink how we develop programs for those in poverty so that they can actually earn a living wage. The living wage calculation in the D.C. metro area is about $17/hour for each wage earner (just over $35,000/year). Now, with health insurance reform, this number could drop a little bit, but certainly not below about $15/hour for each wage earner (about $31,000/year). There are not many jobs for untrained people that will pay this much. Thus, there needs to be a reality check for businesses, educational institutions, governments, and individuals who need to be able to pay people this amount in order to live.

How does the faith community (broadly defined) respond to this social justice issue? Is there a mechanism to leverage the people who are pre-disposed to social intervention to address some of these larger societal issues? How do we as individuals use sites such as EPI to help inform ourselves about the broader issues of health, wellness and wholeness (HW2) encompassed in having now 45 million persons living in the U.S. below the poverty line?

There are no easy answers nor are there "one size fits all" solutions to a problem that is many years in the making. The problem deserves our attention and deserves our intervention. I don't know what my faith community will decide on this issue. I do know, however, that we are now better informed on the issue of what constitutes a living wage.

Peace and wisdom,
Dan