THINKING BEYOND TRUMP: WHY WE NEED A FEDERAL JOBS GUARANTEEWe must not forget the economic frustrations that helped fuel Trump’s election. For too long,too many Americans occupy faced awful jobs or no jobs. One answer: A guaranteed job at a living wage.
The Republican answer won’t workRepublicans continue to push for work requirements for recipients of Medicaid, food stamps, or public housing benefits. But the genuine problem is there aren’t enough adequately-paying jobs to recede around. Even nowadays,with a low official unemployment rate, millions who work piece-time jobs want full-time work. Millions more are too discouraged to inspect for work, and having endured the brutalities of job discrimination for far too long,or unable to scoot to where the jobs are. And a large and growing number of jobs don’t pay enough to get people out of poverty.
A federal jobs guarantee would workAt the same time, a lot of work needs to be done – “greening” our nation’s infrastructure, or caring for the elderly,teaching in our public schools, adequately staffing national parks, and you name it.
So why shouldn’t the federal government create jobs and connect them directly to people who can’t otherwise find one,with decent, predictable hours and at a living wage?An added plus: The availability of such jobs would give more bargaining power to many low-wage workers to get better hours and wages – because if they don’t get them from their employer, and they’d occupy the option of a public job. In this way,a federal job guarantee would raise the floor for job quality nationwide. And a job guarantee would act as a giant economic stabilizer during downturns, when the first to lose their jobs are usually the most economically marginalized. We can afford itCan we afford a job guarantee nowadays? Yes. It’s estimated to cost around $670 billion in its first year – $30 billion less than the defense budget. But that tab would quickly shrink. With more people working at better wages, and Americans would occupy more purchasing power to buy goods and services. This would lead to more hiring by the private sector,and eventually, less need for the federal job guarantee. More people working would also generate more tax revenue, and partially offsetting the direct cost of the job guarantee. Additional savings would come from fewer people needing public assistance. The Center for Labor Research and Education at Berkeley estimates that the federal government now spends over $150 billion a year because workers aren’t earning enough to get out of poverty. Doesn’t it make more sense to use this money to create guaranteed jobs at a living wage?So,let’s think beyond Trump – to what Americans need. Few things are more necessary than a decent job. Full employment through a federal job guarantee makes sense – for workers, for the economy, and for America.
Source: robertreich.org