Reference no: EM133778014

Assignment: Women & Work in American History

Reading and Writing Assignment: Read the "Key Concepts" for Module. Read "The Late 19th century Breadwinner Ideal" and Read the Chapter "Bread before Roses: American Workingmen, Labor Unions, and the Family Wage," by Martha May. Write a 5 page double-spaced essay (1000 to 1500 words) explaining your support [or your criticisms] of the "family wage" historically and the contemporary concept of a "living wage," as strategies to keep low wage workers from falling into poverty.

Explain what the "family wage" meant historically, as Martha May has explained it for the late 1800s and early 1900s, compare this to the current concept of a "living wage" [defined as "The term living wage refers to a theoretical income level that allows individuals or families to afford adequate shelter, food, and other necessities. The goal of a living wage is to allow employees to earn enough income for a satisfactory standard of living and prevent them from falling into poverty"] and evaluate and explain whether you think this is still a valuable concept that low wage workers should advocate for today, or whether this concept is outdated or impractical and why. Thomas B. Edsall who writes for the New York Times, for example, discusses several alternatives to improve the incomes of low wage workers. These include: raising and expanding the Earned Income Tax credits; providing government/public universal child care; expanding Medicaid [that is, expanding health care coverage for low-income Americans]; reducing race-based barriers to progress for African-Americans--such as raising wages for healthcare workers who are low paid, and are disproportionately jobs held by African-American workers; reducing gender-based wage differentials that discriminate against low-wage female workers, and so forth. He also explains that government policies could be changed to better support workers' unions. Are these alternatives for helping low wage workers better solutions in your view than campaigning for raising workers' wages through a "family wage" for the "breadwinner" of the family, or paying all full-time workers a "living wage"? Should these alternatives be pursued, rather than advocating for increasing the minimum wage--a solution that many small business employers reject? Explain your response.