Walking the Walk on the Living Wage Talk
By Gregory C. Scott, President and CEO, Community Action Partnership Orange County
Few issues in American life have been as obstinate as poverty. No matter where you are in our great country, poverty has presented the nation its greatest paradoxes, dichotomies, challenges, but also calls into question the opportunity for equity across the board.
Just like the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, we are in a place in modern history where we have to call into question a collective consciousness around issues of poverty that can truly shape our future. While we have had some victories, those victories do not create the long-term parity that is necessary for transformational change in the lives of our neighbors. Americans cannot continue to be divided by the haves and the haves not. The responsibility for solving poverty, rests neither entirely with government, nor with the private, sector, but with a coalition of government, civil rights, business, and the nonprofit sector, as well as the faith-based community.
It is no secret that the cost of living in California is higher than average. In fact, the average city in California has a 38% higher cost of living than the average city in the nation[1]. So, what does that do to families living on the margins? As the leader of an organization that advocates for the underserved and marginalized in Orange County, I know firsthand the significance of ensuring that everyone has a fighting chance to fulfill their personal “American Dream.” Poverty cannot be escaped if we do not address systemic inequities – a livable wage is just one of the ways we can do this.
Growing up in poverty in New Jersey shaped me as a person and is the catalyst behind my personal mission to end intergenerational poverty within three generations. It’s statistically been proven that adults who were poor during childhood are much more likely to be poor later on in life; 34-46% of people who grew up in poverty when they were 8-14 years old end up staying in poverty[2]. For so many people living in poverty, it’s simply not possible for everyone to just “pull themselves up from their bootstraps.” Poverty exists because of systemic issues that often make it difficult to simply survive[3]. I’ve dedicated my career to helping eliminate these issues whenever possible and create an equitable playing field.
Our staff is laser-focused on ensuring that Orange County families have their immediate needs met. We walk alongside them to help empower and teach them how to be able to develop and utilize the tools and resources that enable them to thrive in a way that is fitting to them.
Yet, many of our own employees were struggling to make ends meet.
This year, the living wage jumped to $22.44/hour for an Orange County individual with 0 children[4] – up 36% from 2020. We had already made a commitment to take a deeper look at our pay equity annually to ensure that we were paying living wages, but this new information represented a huge increase to our annual bottom line and an increase in our salaries by 8%.
I rallied my leadership team to strategize how to ensure all our employees were earning a living wage, while also staying within our annual budget. Like most nonprofits, we are limited in resources, dependent on funding from charitable contributions and grants, but for us to do this work effectively, it’s important that we not only talk the talk about ending poverty but walk the walk. We must work to ensure that our own internal community of staff members are provided living wages in order to deliver on our promises in the most effective and impactful way. Thus, we made the shift to ensure all of our employees were paid a living wage. I did not hesitate. It felt right and in line with our mission.
Does that mean we have to tighten up our bottom line and become even more efficient in our operations by watching our expenses more closely and manage our finances with a clearer view of our priorities? Of course, it does. But I am most proud that our employees feel valued and respected for their work. I will never forget the e-mail I received from a staff member who confessed that as a single mother, she was working a second job to make ends meet – and now she did not have to.
There must be a reckoning around pay equity in order for us to see lasting change, and I believe this is proof of concept and something businesses must consider. This will take sacrifice, but above all it takes courage. Being able to raise wages within my own organization was a great accomplishment. We’ve seen the reward of paying our employees we value them and their dedication, although out work is not done. I challenge fellow business leaders to step up and evaluate how they are helping the cause, not hurting it. We can all be dedicated champions of social, educational, cultural and economic equity—we can take real steps to end poverty.
We cannot just talk the talk; we must walk the walk to make lasting change for our employees. Let’s upskill them, retrain them and pay them living wages. Let’s tackle issues that are complex, multifaceted, and garner the resources to overhaul our perspectives to help all people practice self-sufficiency, and prosperity.
Gregory C. Scott is President and CEO of Community Action Partnership Orange County, a nonprofit working to stabilize, sustain and empower individuals and families out of poverty.
[1] https://www.coli.org/Products/
[2] https://www.nccp.org/publication/childhood-and-intergenerational-poverty/
[3] https://ighhub.org/resource/why-does-poverty-exist