Does Judaism need a "living wage? In America today, 15% of homeless people and 40% of those who apply for emergency food relief are employed. Estimates of the so-called "working poor" range from 7.4 million to as many as 28 million people. In response to this situation, more than 140 cities and municipalities around the country have passed "living wages," which seek to ensure that full-time workers do not need to resort to emergency assistance. In this session, we will explore some Jewish approaches to issues relating to low wage workers, wages, and unions, and will attempt to craft a Jewish response to the problem of the working poor.

Below is a link to an article with an interesting view on the this topic. 

http://www.jewishjustice.org/download/section72/livingwage.pdf

Rabbi Jill Jacobs is the Rabbi-in-Residence for the Jewish Funds for Justice. She received rabbinic ordination and an MA in Talmud/Rabbinics from the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she was a Wexner Fellow. Rabbi Jacobs also holds an MS in Urban Affairs from Hunter College and a BA in Comparative Literature from Columbia University. Her writings have appeared in a number of magazines, journals and websites, including Conservative Judaism, Tikkun, The Reconstructionist, Lilith, the Forward, Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary Journal, and MyJewishLearning.com. She was recently named to the Forward 50, the Forward newspaper's annual list of fifty influential American Jews.