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Well-Being

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Wage and Well-being

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Abstract

Wellbeing begins with physical health, to personal emotions, including freedom from financial worry, and out to social groups, work groups, and wider society. Such ever-increasing circles of holistic wellbeing shift from proximal to distal, micro to macro; and back. At each radius, decent wages transform an OR into an AND: They help protect people from illness and an untimely death, e.g., from overworking to make ends meet (not ‘life OR livelihood’ but life AND livelihood); boost feelings of control to meet responsibilities (responsibility AND control); protect from financial strain (Money AND freedom); prolong happiness at work and outside of it (Hedonic AND Eudaimonic); and help build more equal, peaceful, robust and secure societies (free from absolute AND relative poverty). Ripples like these suggest one good wage has multiple good outcomes. Positioned between individuals and wider society, organizations are a fulcrum to lift wage AND wellbeing.

“Workplace wellbeing related to all aspects of working life, from the quality and safety of the physical environment, to how workers feel about their work, their working environment, the climate at work and work organisations”.

ILO (2019e, emphases added)

“The issue of well-being has emerged in the past years as a consequence of both structural changes in work organization and increases in work intensity… blurring the boundaries between work and personal life…. At the same time a proportion of workers continue to work in the informal economy or precarious work situations and spend long hours at work to make ends meet under poor working conditions, which has a substantial impact on their health and work-life balance”.

ILO (2019f, emphases added)

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Notes

  1. 1.

    ‘Work conditions’ and ‘equity’ are also mentioned (p. 395) but not the words ‘wage’, or ‘wages’. Earning more money is briefly linked to higher average happiness in just three studies (p. 392, 400).

  2. 2.

    Either in one poorly waged but not time-poor job or from multiple poorly waged and time-poor jobs.

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  1. UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Livelihoods/School of Psychology, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

    Stuart C. Carr

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Carr, S.C. (2023). Well-Being. In: Wage and Well-being. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19301-9_2

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