Decades later, lesson on living wages resonates
People opposed to increasing the minimum wage don’t understand the realities of life for the working poor. John A. Ryan, a priest-economist in the first half of the 20th century, recognized and responded to this reality, and his perspective is just as valuable today.
The far-sighted and courageous warrior for social justice also collaborated across religious lines. He was a Catholic priest ahead of his time and ahead of today. His goal was democracy, capitalism and strong unions.
In 1906, he wrote, “To compel a man to work for less than a Living Wage is as truly an act of injustice as to pick his pocket [and] an attack upon his life.” While he preferred that women stay out of the largely male workplace, he was emphatic that women who are forced to provide their own sustenance also “have a right to a Living Wage.”
How did Ryan arrive at the amount needed?
He began with a family’s mental and spiritual needs, the satisfaction of which is essential to what he called “right living.” These include some amusement and recreation, primary school education, having periodicals and other literature in the home, and organization memberships, such as labor unions. To reach the amount needed for “reasonable and frugal comfort,” the priest-economist computed a living wage.
For this estimate, he drew from a wide range of experts and statistics. He looked at actual costs for food, rent, and other basic needs, and concluded that the “irreducible minimum” for a “typical” city family (both parents and four or five children) required an annual wage of $600.
While costs would vary at different times and areas, the data showed that a very large proportion of adult males and half of female workers were not receiving this minimum, which was essential for “right living.” In 2018 dollars, this would be $19,500.
He said that the nation has both the right and duty to compel all employers to pay a living wage, and union organization is the only form of self-help that promises general results.
Looking at the realities of struggling families, Ryan saw women who never married, were deserted or were widowed and left without resources. His ideas became the kernel of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s. Nearly all the proposals eventually became law, providing a system of social ethics that was very American.
His proposals anticipated the social legislation of the New Deal. It was “economic democracy” — immediate reforms through legislation, within a reasonable time, and a guide to future developments. The immediate reforms would actualize the family living wage, while the fundamental reforms would enable the majority of workers to become partial owners of the instruments of production.
Through the years, Ryan inculcated many people in the new social teaching. In addition to laying the foundation for the New Deal, he became part of the implementation of the revolution in social and economic justice.
In 1939, on Ryan’s 70th birthday, FDR paid tribute to the pioneering priest, noting, “With voice and pen, you have pleaded the cause of social justice and the right of the individual to happiness through economic security, a living wage, and an opportunity to share in the things that enrich and ennoble human life.”
In our nation’s current debate on health care and other social issues, we should also mark the words he spoke in a 1943 radio address. Referring to the millions of lowincome people who could not afford health insurance, he stated, “Social justice and the common good demand that this evil be corrected by a system of public compulsory health insurance.”
John Ryan drew from the words of a remarkable pope, Leo XII. Recognizing the importance of broadening his own education with economics, developing social reform efforts in practical, humane ways, and following a deep commitment to democratic values, he brought together the institutional structure and evolving teachings of the church.
He created an enduring framework, which included the important principle that “equally competent workers should be rewarded equally.”