Living Wage

To understand the financial security of employees across America’s largest publicly traded companies, JUST Capital and Revelio Labs analyzed the amount employees’ wages exceed the local living wage necessary to cover basic budgetary needs. Here’s what we found.

Companies like Accenture and Morgan Stanley Capital International are encouraging or requiring their massive supply chains to pay better wages.

In the first of our JUST Jobs Explained series, we break down how to calculate a living wage, how its components are dependent on location and family size, and why businesses can improve their operations with this information.

Republicans, Independents, and Democrats alike agree that it’s a company’s responsibility to pay its frontline workers enough to make ends meet.

Technology and Utilities companies pay more workers a living wage than other industries.

JUST Capital and PayPal have teamed up with the Financial Health Network and the Good Jobs Institute to make businesses stronger and more resilient.

Good jobs – created by investing in workers’ financial health, career development, and overall well-being – must be central to the conversation around wages.

Our annual survey found that liberal and conservative Americans align on policies that prioritize workers and unify Americans from different ideological backgrounds. 

Companies that don’t pay their workers well need to take up more debt (i.e. more risk) to have the same returns on equity as those that pay their workers well.

We need a living wage for all Americans. And there is a return on that investment.

Worker financial wellness must be a priority for corporate leaders, now more than ever.

In light of last week’s analysis of the 2021 JUST Universe specific to return on equity, this week we dive into the new list of companies constituting the JUST 100, our annual list of America’s most just companies.

Last year, before COVID-19 rocked our world, we looked at three myths of sustainable – or “just” – investing. Myth #3 was that raising wages will kill share price and destroy value for investors (spoiler alert: this is not true).

In this Chart of the Week, we analyze how companies with a high percentage of employees making a national living wage have performed over the trailing one year.

With U.S. jobs among the top priorities for the American people, JUST Capital tracks Amazon’s impact on both job creation and elimination in the company’s own stores, distribution centers, and corporate headquarters, as well as throughout the American retail landscape.

How fairly is income distributed among CEOs and employees today?

Only about 15% of the 6 million U.S. retail workers make a living wage.