Working our way out of poverty: Toward an ethic of employment assurance

This study posits that upholding a right to employment at a living wage is central to combating the twin problems of joblessness and poverty. More generally, the study provides moral argumentation in favor of the thesis that an ethic of employment assurance ought to reside at the heart of notions of economic justice.; Chapter I describes how the phenomenon of economic security places growing numbers of persons at risk for joblessness and poverty. Emphasis is placed on how changes in the institutional structure of domestic labor markets are reflected in the collapse of expectations regarding long-term employment relationships. With such relationships becoming increasingly tenuous, persons find themselves facing greater exposure to joblessness and poverty.; Chapter II critically describes the moral reasoning underlying one response to economic insecurity, namely, an ethic of employability. As indicated in this chapter, the ethic of employability counsels that the most efficacious response to economic insecurity is (a) for employers to offer workers training opportunities that will enhance their value to either present or future employers and (b) for workers to take advantage of any employer provided training opportunities. This ethic explicitly encourages labor market participants to eschew all hopes of guaranteed employment and, instead, to take personal initiative for insuring themselves against the threats of joblessness and poverty.; Chapter III critically describes an alternative response to economic insecurity, namely, an ethic of employment assurance. More specifically, sustained attention is given to an important but often-overlooked argument advanced by Martin Luther King, Jr., namely, that a right to a job at living wages is central to combating the twin problems of joblessness and poverty. I show that King's ethic of employment assurance would recognize and implement such a right in response to economic security, thereby guaranteeing employment to all those persons able, ready, and willing to work. The chapter concludes with a brief assessment of the flaws in King's argument and, in doing so, lays the foundation for responding to some of the principle objections to an ethic of employment assurance.; Chapter IV examines the philosopher Alan Gewirth's argument in favor of an ethic of employment assurance. Particular attention is paid to the debate between Alan Gewirth and Jon Elster. By drawing upon this debate, I show that Gewirth demonstrates how partisans of an ethic of employment assurance might successfully contest some of the principle claims of critics.; Chapter V examines the work of the late economist William S. Vickrey. A 1996 co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Vickrey became increasingly articulate about what he saw as the urgent need to combat joblessness and poverty. A life-long member of the Religious Society of Friends, Vickrey's argument is useful in that it provides a theoretical basis for rejecting the idea that private markets are capable of generating and sustaining economic security. Furthermore, his argument provides useful clues on how partisans of an ethic of employment assurance might persuasively respond to the charge that the implementation of such an ethic would unleash ever-increasing rounds of inflation, thereby resulting in this ethic doing more harm than good.; Chapters VII systematically compare the ethic of employability and the ethic of employment assurance. This chapter both advances reasons why the author judges employment assurance to be a more adequate response to economic insecurity and how the insights of Gewirth and Vickrey can be used as correctives to the basic flaws in King's theological argument in favor of an ethic of employment assurance.; Chapter VII concludes the study and provides an assessment of the possibilities of bringing to fruition an ethic of employment assurance.