In order to make a living wage, two factors are absolutely paramount; the first being that the wage so being paid per hour is high enough to actually be a living wage, and the second is the amount of hours so being worked has got to be the same as the basis of what is commonly considered to be a full-time work week, which is currently, forty hours. That is to say, even when employees are making a living wage of, for instance, $15/hour, if they are not also achieving forty hours of work hours, on a consistent weekly basis, week in and week out, then they are essentially not making a living wage, though the wage itself, is high enough, were they to actually work a forty hour work week, they could indeed get by.
This thus signifies, that current unemployment benefits must be corrected to take into account, those individuals that through no fault of their own are unable to secure forty hours of work each week. So that, for example, all laborers that are working at least twenty hours in a given week, should be eligible to receive a like amount of hours being paid to them through unemployment on a one-to-one basis, but not more than the equivalency of forty hours in a week. In other words, if someone works thirty-two hours in a week, they should be eligible to receive their missing eight hours in unemployment compensation. If, someone works twenty-hour hours in a week, they should be eligible to receive their missing sixteen hours in unemployment compensation. If, someone works sixteen hours in a week, they should be eligible to receive a matching sixteen hours in unemployment compensation, and so on and so forth.
The point of this unemployment labor compensation is for the Federal government, in conjunction with some contribution from the relevant State government, to see that all eligible laborers are accorded, to the degree that such is possible, forty hours of work each week; so that, these gainfully employed citizens are thereby able to actually earn a living wage. After all, the whole point of wages to begin with, and why the common man actually labors day-by-day, is to earn, at a minimum, the amount of money so necessary to live a decent life. So then, it is the responsibility of governmental services to promote the general welfare and thereby to see that those that are part of the labor force, are provided with enough compensation; and when not, such will be augmented by governmental programs, when necessary, for this to be accomplished.
To the degree that governmental rules and regulations in regards to those that are being employed can be applied proactively against employers, to see that more employees are provided with a full forty hour work week, such has its place, because employers that knowingly short their employees' needed hours on a weekly basis, are basically asserting that they are not responsible to those employees in providing them with what is necessary for them to make a living wage. In short, it cannot be emphasized enough, that all those that are diligent and responsible in their job duties, and are willing and able to work full-time, should be provided with those mandatory hours, through governmental assistance, if necessary, so that they are thereby able to fairly earn their keep.