There’s currently a focus on raising the minimum wage, with a nod to a living wage - but we rarely hear about a saving wage.
 
The minimum wage has not increased in 12 years, and the proposed $15 / hour wage would not be fully enacted until another four years from now, in 2025. Yet if the minimum wage was pegged with the rising inflationary and productivity rates in the US since the late 1970s, then today it would be in the range of $24 / hour, not $15. By 2025, that real minimum wage would be in the $26 / hour range. So, while the effort to raise the minimum wage to $15 / hour is a righteous one, in some circles it is also being portrayed as comparable to a living wage. It is not. What is too often missing from the discussion is the ability for all working classes to have equitable opportunity to save a percentage of their income.
 
Why does this matter? In capitalism, the ability to save provides the capability to elevate one’s well-being. More importantly, it allows a worker to be more self-reliant, to have the ability to buffer life's unexpected hardships: weather disruptions, unemployment, market collapse, health care, failure of political leadership. COVID-19 illuminated what happens if you don't have resources set aside. This is what the upper-class always do: set aside liquidity (cash on hand to deal with calamities) and capture deals for investment.
 
I speak from the experience of being a Black American with over 20 years in the global food and agriculture sector. I have lived and worked in 22 countries and across the US. During that span of time, I experienced periods of time when I was unable to save and was forced to receive government services. And I saw my share of calamity around the globe: drought, pestilence, floods, earthquakes, national / tribal violence, diseases that ravaged human societies. The individuals and societies abroad and in the US that bounced back the quickest, with more resilience, were those who had the means and opportunity to save money and / or other resources. Those who did not have savings felt the full brunt of misfortune. Often, it was brutal. 
 
Recently, Amazon was pushed to raise its minimum wage to $15 / hour, and Costco upped the ante by setting its minimum to $16 / hour. All enacted within weeks without consumer backlash - prices did not rise, services did not diminish. It was a shrewd move made by the corporate Goliaths to fend off the pitchforks of unionization and anti-trust legislation. Might we dare to think the market itself will be first-movers in raising the minimum wage, not Congress? 
 
A true living wage, which allows minimal savings, should be a no-brainer for all US political groups to support - no matter where you fall on the political spectrum. If full-time workers have the means to save from each paycheck, standards of living will rise without increasing government services or tax rates. In fact, over time government services would reduce. With less financial stress, mental and physical health improves, crime decreases, high-interest debt diminishes - in short, communities are more resilient in the face of environmental and market upheavals. 
 
For too long, millions of full-time working Americans have been denied the means to save. It’s been widely reported that at this moment in time, roughly 40% of Americans would be challenged to cover an unexpected expense of $400 - which means that millions of low-income Americans are needlessly vulnerable. This is unacceptable in a nation that prides itself as being a land of opportunity. 
 
Yes, the fight for a $15 / hour minimum must continue.  It has gone mainstream, being spoken about in the halls of power, and we should join it with ongoing discussions of setting a living, saving wage. The challenge may appear formidable, but so was talking about raising the minimum wage eight years ago. I am positive as more Americans gradually see the benefits of equitable social programs, workers' rights will improve. They must - for the good of all.
 
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We are thrilled and grateful to have collaborated with Michael through our Share Your Voice initiative, an ongoing effort inspired by the #sharethemicnow movement. 

photo credit: Lise Metzger