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Julia Lersch

Faith, Religion, and Society

Timothy Gabrielli

6 December 2017

The Waging of a Spiritual War on Wages

Religion is by far one of the most influential components in society, yet it is also one that

is increasingly overlooked. Many claiming to be faithful to a certain religion often neglect

numerous of its teachings—especially the ones that appear to ask too much of a person. Catholic

social teaching is often a component of Catholicism that is overlooked, not just because of its

increasing demands to place others before one’s self, but also because it is not very well known.

This is an ignorance increasingly seen in Catholics in the promotion of a living wage; as business

men and the wealthy claiming to be Catholic or Christian consistently belittle their workers’

dignity by not paying them what they are due. This atrocity prominent in the United States, will

only continue to worsen if the government does not intervene, heeding the Church’s call for an

increase in the minimum wage to an amount that is deemed livable.

In the eyes of the church life is innately sacred and should be treated as such (Seven

Themes of Catholic…). Dignity is an undeniable right to every human person, as it gives one not

only the ability to go on living, but a purposeful existence. With purpose comes a key component

of human life—work. Man was never intended as a means for profit, but human greed has

exploited the worker into just that (Leo XIII no. 42). The worker deserves dignity, which can

only be achieved through meaningful work compensated by a just wage. When this does not

occur, the worker is demoted to a creature less than human. Stripped of their spiritual being they

often times fall into despair (USCCB Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development).
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This of course results in a depressed economic state that begins a cycle of poverty that can only

be remedied by a permanent solution to the cause of the working-man’s struggle—a fair wage

that provides the worker with a means to survive. With this loss of dignity, it becomes crucial to

place the needs of the poor above all else (Seven Themes of Catholic…). This idea is often

thrown to the wayside, while many prioritize their own well-being before others. This could not

be more obvious in businesses and factories that only pay their workers minimum wage, often

making an enormous profit from their labor. The wealthy employer who has countless defenses

owe their lively hood to the poor workers whom they suck dry of dignity, as they withhold fair

wages and justice (Leo XIII no. 20). Yet it is the well-off who have an obligation to the

impoverished whom are so often exploited at their hands, to assist them in their struggle for

dignity. Here lies the issue: American society is so engrained in a capitalist battle of power, that

often times the poor become resultant casualties of an economic struggle that they should have

never been a part of since the beginning. The power is in the hands of a few, and the few who

have it tend to keep it to themselves, in turn causing others to suffer. Despite years of

advancements in working conditions, dignity is still at stake, hanging in the balance of what is to

be decided regarding minimum wage.

When many think of the impoverished, they often think of the unemployed, but this is not

necessarily the case. Currently there are over ten-million people in the work force that fall into

the classification of the “working poor” (USCCB Department of Justice, Peace, and Human

Development). The current minimum wage in the United States is a mere $7.25 per hour, barely

covering the basic necessities for survival (Desilver). The United States being a country of

extreme affluence and the factor of inflation alone should be enough reason to raise minimum

wage, yet the government has neglected to act. Many states have acknowledged the necessity for
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a more sufficient wage, twenty-nine of which have already raised their minimum wage

(Desilver). Yet the national government has still failed to follow this popular trend. Former

President Obama along with his Vice President Joe Biden had called for an increase in minimum

wage to $9.00 (Alessi). This is still is not an extremely livable wage, but would have made

progress nonetheless. This was never passed as minimum wage still remains at $7.25. The Center

for Economic and Policy Research even found that from 1968 the average productivity increased

dramatically, meaning that if minimum wage had correlated with this increase it would have

reached a staggering $21.72 per hour by 2012 (Alessi). This statistic highlights and appalling

realization—as there is money to give, yet it is being withheld from the very people that need it

the most. To grow as a society these statistics cannot be allowed to exist; the current minimum

wage as it stands is absolutely unjust. As Pope Francis addresses in Evangelii Gaudium, there is

a need for all societies to grow in justice, meaning that programs and different mechanisms

should be put in place to ensure that the vulnerable could not be taken advantage of. He

continues on to discuss the importance of a better distribution of income, warning against turning

“to remedies that are new poison” in which the poor are excluded (Francis no. 204). As some

economists argue that raising the minimum wage would be a “new poison” only to cause

unemployment, Catholic economist Charles Clark refutes this statement. Clark’s findings

conclude that once minimum wage is increased the impoverished workers will improve in

economic status (Alessi). People may be employed, but often their income remains insufficient

to live in dignity and that is a shame upon not only American society, but most wealthy countries

around the world.

While Catholic social teaching encourages charity as a way of establishing a just society,

it does acknowledge that there are many cases in which the government must intervene to solve
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an overarching issue (Benedict XVI no. 28). The prime responsibility of the government being

the just ordering of society (Benedict XVI no. 28). This being the case, it is critical that the

government take it upon itself to improve the state of America’s poor in order for society to ever

be just. Catholicism has had a long history of pushing for the improvement of the poor in

establishing a minimum wage. Consequently, it was also the first religious community to ever

promote the idea of a living wage (Quigley). Catholic social teaching views a living wage as

synonymous to a family wage, as stated in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the

Church— “In order to protect this relationship between family and work, an element that must be

appreciated and safeguarded is that of a family wage, a wage sufficient to maintain a family and

allow it to live decently” (Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace n. 250). This idea of decency

relates back to the innate right to dignity. As the family unit is extremely important in

Catholicism, it too must be allowed a certain level of dignity. Bishops in America have been

pushing for years to instate a living wage, even going so far as to write a letter in 1986 to place

this pressing need on the social justice agenda for the government (Quigley). Catholic social

teaching promotes a wage that is established and regulated by the government, whose

responsibility is to ensure that the wage is just (Pius XI no. 70). In order for this to be just, it

must be a sufficient amount to ensure the dignity of a human person and their family, an amount

that does not run a business into ruin, and adjusted according to the public economic good (Pius

XI no. 71-72). This is the moral duty of the government and the responsibility of humanity to

draw attention to these issues, as they have a direct impact on the most vulnerable populations of

society. As “the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man” one should not place

economic gain above a human being, but place others’ needs before his or her own (Benedict
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XVI no. 25). This is how society will be just, starting with a compensation for labor that is not

only fair, but livable.

While the current statute of American society is far from just, it still has the potential to

rise above its current flaws. It remains the government’s responsibility to instill laws and

regulations that not only protect the dignity of the poor, but ensure that they have a chance to

escape the grasp of poverty. This begins with the very source of poverty for many—minimum

wage. Once this is increased to an amount that is equally fair and livable, the poor will have the

ability to rise above their current destitute, claiming the very right that is innate to humanity.

Though these poor workers may be stripped of all that they are, they are whom must be placed

first in human hearts. For the American government and its citizens have a duty to provide for

them, as God has enabled them with the tools to do so.

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Works Cited

Alessi, Scott. “A Catholic Case for raising the minimum wage.” U.S. Catholic: Faith in Real

Life, 2013, http://www.uscatholic.org/blog/201306/catholic-case-raising-minimum-wage-

27483. Accessed 12 Nov. 2017.

Benedict XVI, Pope. Deus Caritas Est, Encyclical Letter. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice

Vaticana, 2005, http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-

xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est.html. Accessed

17 Nov. 2017.

Desilver, Drew. “5 facts about the minimum wage.” Pew Research Center, 2017,

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/04/5-facts-about-the-minimum-wage/.

Accessed 17 Nov. 2017.

Francis, Pope. Evangeli Gaudium, Apostolic Exhorti. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana,

2013, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-

francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html. Accessed 17 Nov. 2017.

Leo XIII, Pope. Rerum Novarum, Encyclical Letter. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana,

1931, http://w2.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-

xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html. Accessed 17 Nov. 2017.

Pius XI, Pope. Quadragesimo Anno, Encyclical Letter. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana,

1931, http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-

xi_enc_19310515_quadragesimo-anno.html. Accessed 17 Nov. 2017.

Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.

Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2004,

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http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justp

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soc_en.html#The%20dignity%20of%20workers%20and%20the%20respect%20for%20th

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Quigley, William P. "The Living Wage and Catholic Social Teaching. (Cover Story)." America,

vol. 195, no. 5, 28 Aug. 2006, pp. 10-13. EBSCOhost,

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teaching/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching.cfm. Accessed 12 Nov. 2017.

USCCB Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development. “Just Wage and the Federal

Minimum Wage.” USCCB, Washington D.C., Feb. 2014,

http://www.usccb.org/search.cfm?site=newusccb&proxystylesheet=newusccb_frontend&

q=just+wage+and+the+federal+minimum+wage&btnG.x=0&btnG.y=0&btnG=Search&l

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