%0 Journal Article
%T Impossibility and gradualism in labor markets: Reflections on the ethics of a living wage
%A D. Glenn Butner
%J Review & Expositor
%@ 2052-9449
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0034637319830453
%X Ethicists and economists often raise two objections to the idea of a living wage. The ¡°impossibility objection¡± claims that raising minimum wages will lead to unemployment. The ¡°gradualism objection¡± claims that low wages in the present will allow for economic growth and higher wages in the future. This article explores the scriptural warrant for a living wage in light of the impossibility and gradualism objections, arguing that the objections challenge state intervention but not action by specific firms or churches. Paying particular attention to Acts 2:44¨C45 and 4:32¨C35, the article challenges churches to consider possible responses to workers¡¯ making less than a living wage. Three axes guide Christian business owners and churches in considering responses: a state/local axis, a present/future axis, and a direct/indirect axis. The article concludes by offering concrete policies or ministry proposals along various configurations of the axes
%K Acts
%K economics
%K living wage movement
%K minimum wage
%K social ethics
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0034637319830453