Commentary, perspective, and point-of-view from the Globe's columnists and editorial-page editors and writers.
Send your thoughts to edblog@globe.com
  RSS feed for this blog
 Week of:
September 24
Week of:
September 17
Week of:
September 10
Week of:
September 3
Week of:
August 20
Week of:
August 13
|
« Buckley Jr. on the Connecticut Primary | Main | Jon Stewart's Greatest Political Hits » Thursday, July 27, 2006Living Wages in Big BoxesOn Wednesday, Chicago's city council ordered "big box" stores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot to pay a minimum wage of $10 an hour by 2010. The Chicago Tribune says 40 stores could be affected. It's a sign of the times. Welfare reform is old news. Today's stories are about working people who can't make ends meet, even when they work several jobs. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Massachusetts has an income tax that's more forgiving to the working poor. But given this state's high cost of living, it's dangerously easy to be a worker who can't pay all the bills. In 2003, a family of four needed to earn $54,612 a year to manage the costs of living in Boston, according to the Crittenton Women's Union's Self Sufficiency Standard. |
