Moral Wages

One of the most significant failings of Christian conservatives in the United States is their inability to recognize that there is an actual cost that must be paid to honor every human right to life. This lack of recognition has led some politicians and businesspeople to campaign against a minimum wage, entitlements, and healthcare reform. I am in favor of attempting to improve efficiencies, but any individual that wants to entirely abdicates their moral duty to the whims of the “free market” is in the wrong.

An employer has a moral duty to reward all honest work performed on their behalf with pay that provides “a dignified livelihood for [the employee] and [their] family on the material, social, cultural, and spiritual level” (Catechism 2434). Even when the market indicates that we should pay less, or the legal minimum wage is less, any profits accumulated by a company that is not paying this moral minimum wage is sinful. Even mutual agreement to the reduced pay does not free this action of its moral stain. A homeless individual may agree to work an hour for a single piece of fruit, but that does not mean you paid them a fair wage.  As Catholics, we should voluntarily pay this moral wage. When we cannot pay it, we should, in turn, forfeit our profits until we can.

Politicians, on the other hand, have a moral duty to ensure individuals can live a dignified life even when employers within the society fail to comply with the moral law. This can be done by one of two mechanisms, taxes used to fund social welfare and minimum wage laws. Anything short of this, directly harms the ability of individuals to meet the requirements of life. In fact, almost the entire welfare system in America is built to compensate for the fact that even if an individual is a fully participating member of society, they may still not have the resources to cover their basic necessities.

As Catholics, we must do our part to recognize and fulfill this duty as voters, consumers, business owners, and political leaders.