In Los Angeles, California, a poor city in a debt-ridden state, a movement to end poverty is gaining popularity. Joyce Appleby, a UCLA professor and living wage advocate, recently wrote an op-ed article for the L.A. Times about the living wage movement.

The living wage movement is not new. In 1997, the L.A. City Council passed a living wage ordinance to guarantee that all people with jobs can provide for themselves and their families. Since then, several U.S. cities and cities around the world have been joining the fight for living wages.

A living wage is defined as a wage that guarantees a worker and her or his family all that they need to live on: food, housing, healthcare, transportation, utilities, and recreation. Minimum wage is supposed to equal a living wage. However 13 percent of U.S. citizens who are living below the poverty line will be quick to tell you that minimum wage often isn't enough to pay the bills. Appleby writes that despite periodic increases to minimum wage, the purchasing power of the current minimum wage is 17 percent lower than it was in 1968.

In a study of the 1997 L.A. living wage law, experimenters found that the law increased pay of over 10,000 jobs, all with only a 1 percent reduction to the workforce. Most firms studied also decreased employee turnover, which can be expensive.

Appleby writes that living wage's greatest ally is capitalism. Market growth has decreased poverty by more than 300 million people in developing countries in East, Southeast, and Central Asia. And the recent attention given to the disgruntled workers in China will help. Dr. Appleby says, "economic development raises expectations among workers." Cheap labor is becoming a thing of the past, as the plight of the laborer is gaining momentum.

An end to poverty once seemed impossible, but the progress made over the last few years is encouraging. Dr. Appleby, at least, concludes that the end of poverty may actually be in sight.

A 1989 poster celebrating Congress of South African Trade Unions' Living Wage Campaign and May Day. Photo: Gardens Media Group/CAP (flickr)