Presumably the “big-box” living wage ordinance is intended to address the problem of too many people earning too little. But low wages are caused by low skills and the big-box ordinance will have no effect on this problem.
What it will do is provide minimally higher wages for the relatively few people who work for large retailers like Wal-Mart, prevent at least some people from finding jobs because large retailers will hire fewer people and make all consumers in Chicago pay more for retail goods because of the higher wage costs.
To see how much of a difference skills make, consider that African-American men and women ages 25 to 34 without a high school degree earn approximately $21,000 per year for full-time, full-year employment. That works out to be about $10.50 per hour on average. Similarly aged African-American men and women with a high school degree earn approximately $29,000, or about $14.50 per hour. A high school degree adds approximately 38 percent to pay, and a large majority of African-Americans with a high school degree earn more than the mandated wage of the big-box ordinance. Unfortunately only 54 percent of Chicago Public School students (those in CPS at age 13) graduate high school. The City Council should focus on programs that will improve the skills of Chicago citizens. Making Wal-Mart and other large retailers pay higher wages will do very little to solve this problem.
These firms employ a small percentage of the workforce and cannot be expected to educate and train a large portion of the workforce. That is the government’s job. So instead of picking on a greedy corporation of the day, why doesn’t the City Council implement permanent and long-lasting solutions that are paid for by all segments of society?
Oh I know why: This will cost money!
