If unemployment pays more than what employers are paying, then why would a person want to return to work. That's not an indictment of a person "being lazy." It is an indictment of greedy employers who want to maximize a worker's productivity, and pay them a non-livable wage while doing it. Raise the minimum wage to a livable wage. If employer's cannot meet the mandate, then they shouldn't be in business.
No thanks. Just using Garden State Parkway in NJ as an example, the government never get it done. I have been driving on it daily for over 2 years and don't even know what they were doing. Construction every days with no end or progress in sight. They closed the lane to one of the major exist and has been working on it for over a year and still no progress in sight. We are talking about 1 exit. Just close the freaking exit and finish it in a or two week. But this is the government, it is JOB security.
Define living wage. Does living wage mean just enough money for food, clothing & shelter? Or does living wage mean enough money to support a family of 4, 2 cars, 4 bedroom home, latest iphones for everyone in the house, google fiber internet, 2 vacations per year, 6 months maternity/paternity leave, kids college paid, and full medical and dental?
One definition with numbers... Although, has not been updated for this year. https://livingwage.mit.edu/
Follow the link tiddlywinks provided. I will add that a livable wage should be dependent on situation, and within an acceptable range of the CEO. It's ridiculous that for CEO to have a salary ratio of 271:1 compared to rank and file. The rank and file do the damn work. To put things in perspective, for most Americans real wages have barely moved since 1978, where is corporate value and employee productivity has increased several orders of magnitude since 1978.
So a quick look and I see that in Los Angeles county, a living wage for a single mom with 3 kids is $48.34 per hour or just over $100,000 per year. However...a living wage for a couple without kids is $11.63 per hour. Minimum wage in CA is $12. So hmm...if I own a restaurant, who would I choose to hire...two people at less than minimum wage or 1 person at 4x minimum wage. Well...I don't to be accused of not paying a living wage, so I guess I'll go with the childless couple. I think if you choose to have kids, you need to accept that you will not have as much money as the childless couple and a business shouldn't pay you more because you decided to have kids.
I will admit that people should not have kids they cannot raise properly. Livable wage should be pegged to the single person standard. Anything beyond that, employees are on their own.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces Federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. These laws protect employees and job applicants against employment discrimination when it involves: Unfair treatment because of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. Harassment by managers, co-workers, or others in the workplace, because of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. Denial of a reasonable workplace accommodation that the employee needs because of religious beliefs or disability. Retaliation because the employee complained about job discrimination, or assisted with a job discrimination investigation or lawsuit. Not all employers are covered by the laws we enforce, and not all employees are protected. This can vary depending on the type of employer, the number of employees it has, and the type of discrimination alleged. https://www.eeoc.gov/employers