Reflection Paper: Living Wage Challenge
While Silicon Valley has been the engine of economic development over the past few decades, the wealth is not distributed equally in its occupants. Like the majority of the workers in Silicon Valley, the outcomes of the living wage challenge indicate a lower performance than workers after the major recession. The middle class is the hardest hit with decreased earnings after inflation. Like those at the lowest ring income ladder, wages are too low. The main contributor to the low-wage outcomes is the widening income disparity in Silicon Valley; the winner takes all the information technology economy dynamics that inspire high tech companies to constrict space for many others and the outsourcing of more job roles. However, like many workers in Silicon Valley, the income provides a living wage. Consequently, employees and residents of the Silicon Valley can cater afford basic needs, such as clothing, housing, feed, and other necessities.
The Silicon Valley task force falls into three economic classes: lower, middle, and upper class. The economic situation in the region has enabled stratification as an hourglass economy, one where the socioeconomic aspects favor disproportionate growth f the upper and lower class while comparatively weakening the development of the middle class. Since the great recession, the median wages for lower-skilled occupations, including those in transportation, construction, and service industries, have substantially decreased. In contrast, the proportion of high-income earners has risen during the same period. Approximately a third of the region’s households earn little than the self-sufficiency standard, the bare minimum necessary to cater for basic expenses void of private or public interventions. In this note, it is apt to conclude that although money is not everything, it is a very important element. Besides the basic providence, money is important to achieving life goals and supporting the things we care most deeply about, including education, family, healthcare, adventure, charity, and leisure. Money is critical because it grants more control over life, greater freedom to craft one’s path and fewer constraints on one’s choices.
Irrespective of one’s prevailing economic situation, there are various steps individuals and communities can adopt to enhance their economic standing. Most critical, advances in education are vital for economic development. Learning technical and professional skills enhance employability in different sectors, creating opportunities for economic growth. The capacity to take up jobs in various sectors can boost one’s economic situation and spur advances and independence. While there is some truth in the negative connotations of money, it ultimately affords to power to determine how to use it. Although money is not everything in society, it can be vital to help individuals and households to attain goals besides letting one have the best of the short life available.
Although not adequate, governments institutions are trying their best to spur economic growth for the population. Although boosting growth has been the standard way of creating opportunities and raising the living standards for citizens, governments should intensify initiatives to equip populations better to navigate the employment world to most effectively boost economic growth and development. Previous experiences indicate that the elimination f disparities alone are not enough to assure quality life; an upgrade of social contracts and better equipment for citizens will enable them to navigate the world of opportunities to boost their economic development and growth effectively.