Review
In
Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies That Work for All of Us, the authors make a persuasive case for raising the minimum wage to a living wage. That would not only benefit the "working poor," the authors say, but would greatly benefit those who employ them. Holly Sklar, Laryssa Mykyta, and Susan Wefald say the minimum wage should lift people out of poverty, not perpetuate it, and they outline the policy changes needed to set this change in motion.
Raise the Floor is a moving book. --
Steve Powers, Dallas Morning NewsIn
Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies That Work. For All of Us, Holly Sklar, Laryssa Mykyta and Susan Wefald deftly blend the latest data and real-life stories, to show what it takes to make ends meet in today's America. In addition to telling workers' stories, presenting original data and proposing comprehensive policies,
Raise the Floor spotlights large and small businesses that demonstrate how good wages are good business -- in good economic times and bad. --
Des Moines Business RecordRaise a cheer for Sklar, Mykyta and Wefald!
Raise the Floor sets out the arguments for a higher minimum wage and other policy changes so clearly and persuasively that only the most cold-hearted could ignore them. This is a commanding work and powerful tool for the living wage movement that is gaining ground everywhere. --
Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and DimedSome books tell the story of the working poor. Some give the numbers. Others stress policy solutions. This book does it all, with passion and precision. It's a tremendously valuable resource. --
Jared Bernstein, Economic Policy InstituteThis book sends a clear message to America that the minimum wage should lift people out of poverty, not perpetuate it. --
U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro, Member of Congress
About the Author
Holly Sklar's standout commentaries on economic and political affairs have appeared in hundreds of newspapers nationwide. She is the coauthor of Shifting Fortunes: The Perils of the Growing American Wealth Gap and author of Chaos or Community? Seeking Solutions, Not Scapegoats for Bad Economics. Sklar's other books include Streets of Hope: The Fall and Rise of an Urban Neighborhood (coauthored), the remarkable story of how the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative is rebuilding a long impoverished Boston community as a dynamic urban village. Sklar is the director of MediaVision, a strategic research, analysis and communications firm based in Boston.
Laryssa Mykyta is a senior policy analyst at Solutions for Progress. While her primary interest lies in labor market policy and effective anti-poverty policy, she has also applied her research and database management skills to projects on health care and education policy. Mykyta's past research addressed the effects of inequality on labor market outcomes for female and minority workers and examined the impact of racial divisions on society. Mykyta also teaches at Temple University where her courses include “Women and the Economy.”
Susan Wefald is director of institutional planning at the Ms. Foundation for Women and coordinator of the Raise the Floor campaign. Wefald previously ran a community development consulting business, where she conducted training in the U.S. and Russia. As former staff director of the Naugatuck Valley Project, Wefald coordinated the organizing and economic development work of a coalition of unions, churches and community organizations in Western Connecticut. She is the former assistant director of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board and taught “Community Organizing and Community Economic Development” at New Hampshire College.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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