The Problem
Right now in America and around the world people are experiencing extreme levels of poverty. There are about 100 million people within 100% of the poverty line in the US alone. 38.1 million people(11.8%) in the US live in poverty. 12 million of those are still working full time jobs and are under the poverty line.
For many people in the US jobs don’t pay a living wage and workers feel replaceable. The threat of losing one’s job when that person is facing poverty means that many workers accept horrible working conditions that end up damaging them physically and psychologically. One such condition is Wage Theft.
Wage theft happens when an employer pays an employee less than they deserve for one reason or another. Common types of wage theft are:
- Overtime: Not paying overtime when they should.
- Employee Misclassification: Labeling workers as Independent Contractors to avoid giving proper benefits.
- Minimum Wage Violations: Not paying the appropriate minimum wage.
- Working off the Clock: Having people do work before and after they have clocked in / out.
- Illegal Deductions from Pay: Employers take unauthorized or illegal deductions from employee pay.
- Not Being Paid at all: Not being paid for hours that were worked.
Wage theft accounts for more than 50 billion dollars worth of damages per year and that’s more than all other kinds of theft combined.
A Solution
We want to help liberate some workers from this cycle of abuse and despair by helping the individuals that need it most while also contributing to the creation of a better system. We’ll be using the Work Life Unbalance campaign to gather the stories of those experiencing poverty while working part time or full time jobs in the US. Those stories will be connected to art that represents the worker to make an NFT. That NFT will then be sold then 50% of the funds will be given to the worker that donated their story and the rest will be used to support worker directed companies that will treat their workers better and break the cycle.
Our first worker, Olivia, is experiencing many kinds of wage theft and the amount of time she has to work prevents her from taking care of even her own health needs. This is by no means an uncommon situation and we hope that by addressing this problem in a holistic way, both helping the worker and fighting the problem, we can create a future in which it is uncommon.
We plan on partnering with a university to make sure that the interview process for our workers is gentle and kind. We’ll also be working with a non profit that works with those experiencing poverty to select our candidates in the future. We want to make sure that our process is fair and transparent so that everyone can feel safe that the money they use to purchase these NFTs contributes to fighting for workers rights and against poverty.
Utility
We want these NFT’s to provide value to more than just the workers but also to the holders. The first way we plan on doing that is to offer discounts at any worker directed company that is supported by the funds from this NFT project. This will be an ongoing project until poverty is erased so the list of companies that we support will grow over time. At the beginning we’ll be using the funds to start Beanchain coffee shops. Beanchain coffee shops will be worker directed, pay a living wage, have profit sharing, and make a mean cup of coffee. Anyone holding a Work Life Unbalance NFT will get a 10% discount on any of our food or drink items.
We’re working with other friends and partners to start a community that will be accessible to those that hold the Work Life Unbalance tokens. We want this to be a place where we can all find things to do that will create change in our communities, find hope and see the positive effects of action, and find others that care as deeply as we do to connect with. We hope that you’ll join us!
Now:
- Discounts at Beanchains (opening later this year in Mesa, AZ)
- Special role on our discord servers
- Access to a community we’re building around creating action and hope
- Voting power on decisions the project makes
Future:
- Discounts at all worker directed organizations that use the funds we gather
- Tax deductible
Sources
A profile of the working poor, 2018
An Overview of America’s Working Poor
The Poverty Line Matters, But It Isn’t Capturing Everyone It Should
An Epidemic of Wage Theft Is Costing Workers Hundreds of Millions of Dollars a Year