What’s the point of telling people they need to find work when the jobs available pay peanuts and don't even cover the basics? It’s a joke. My proposal is simple: a proper living wage, set by an independent body, that actually lets people live with dignity. Forget these minimum wage figures that haven’t kept pace with anything. If a business can't afford to pay its staff enough to live on, then it's not a viable business.
This isn't about giving handouts. It's about valuing people's labour. Think about it. If people earn enough, they spend more in their local shops and pubs. That boosts the local economy. It means less reliance on food banks and crisis loans. Jean sees it all the time with her friends – they're working flat out but still struggling to make rent and feed the kids. It’s not right.
We'd have to phase it in, of course.
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It just shifts the problem. We saw this in Germany with their "Mindestlohn" – it sounds good, but it often just pushes businesses to cut hours or automate faster, meaning fewer actual jobs.
It's not the automation I'm worried about, it's the devaluation of work. If businesses are so fragile they can't afford to pay a decent wage, then perhaps they are the ones needing to adapt, not the workers. Frankly, relying on the 'automation' excuse sounds like a convenient way to avoid paying fairly.