Monday, October 3, 2016

Why We Need Better Jobs NOW!



Why We Need Better Jobs NOW!

The overall economic news has been pretty good of late. The unemployment rate has fallen to a relatively low 4.9 percent – on average, but pockets of much higher unemployment survive and, for some people, their job prospects are very limited. The economy has been fundamentally transformed since the recession and many Americans struggle to keep up. The kind of solid, blue collar jobs an earlier generation relied on are in many cases gone, and gone for good.

A recent Census report says that fewer families are falling out of the Middle Class and may in fact be slowly improving their economic position. There has been a drop in the poverty rates from 14.8 percent in 2014 to 13.5 percent in 2015. But a year of positive growth hardly makes up for the disastrous fall most folks took since the bottom dropped out in 2008.

Too many of the new jobs in the new economy have been in lower-paying industries, such as fast-food restaurants, and higher-paying sectors, such as information technology. Middle-income jobs in areas like manufacturing and administrative support have barely recovered. And while average hourly pay scales are slowly rising, the growth rate is below levels needed for healthy economic growth.

Overall, household incomes are still below those in pre-2008. The 2015 grow touted by the Census Bureau shows that incomes are still 1.6 percent below 2007 levels and 2.4 percent below the 1999 peak.

We have to remember that less awful – which became the new “normal” during the Great Recession - still means that plenty of Americans are still in tough straights and a long way from recovery from their losses in the last 8 years. These include millions of children and young people who have grown up during those eight years who are just starting their working careers – or trying to.

There are still too many children being raised in poverty. In the United States, the household income disparity between the poorest children and those in the middle is nearly 59 percent. Almost half of all young children in the U.S. live in low-income families with incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines.

In 2016, that means less than $48,600 for a family of four. The figure is $24,300 for a family of four at 100 percent. You can see the full range of figures on this webpage: http://familiesusa.org/product/federal-poverty-guidelines

These are families where one or both parents are working, but in low-wage jobs with too few hours and irregular schedules. They want to work, but the jobs they are working are not letting them make ends meet.

There are least 1.3 million preschoolers and children in K-12 who are attending public schools this year who are homeless. The return to school means a hot meal and shelter, at least during the school day. Starting on Oct. 1, schools have to meet new requirements to better identify and support homeless students under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which was passed nearly 30 years ago and was reauthorized under the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015.

Better jobs that promise a living wage and benefits for those families would mean a real home for these students and a real chance at a better life.

One of the often invisible effects of poverty for young children is what happens to their development - effects that can start before birth. Two recent studies have found that higher mandated hourly wages lead to healthier babies at birth. And the effects of poverty become more pronounced as these children develop:

Deep poverty puts young children at risk for poor health, development
Young children in deep poverty, whose family income is below 50 percent of the federal poverty line, fare even worse on health and development indicators than children in poverty, according to a study.

Compared to other children in poverty, a lower percentage of children in deep poverty were judged by parents to be "flourishing," a composite measure that reflects parents' view of the child's curiosity, resilience, affection, and positive mood. Less positive views of children's wellness were especially common among parents of children who experienced frequent parenting stress. Only 22 percent of deeply poor, frequently stressed parents of children younger than age 5 reported their children were flourishing compared to 48 percent with low parenting stress. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160112144414.htm

And while some of the poverty news is encouraging, for American’s newest adults, it is anything but. For young adults (ages 18-24), the 19 percent poverty rate was largely unchanged from 19.6 percent in 2014. These are the young folk that will, if they can get an education and job training, become the next workforce generation.

These are also the young people least likely to be able to afford post-secondary education, which is a critical component of success in later life. The new economy jobs with a decent paycheck require more education – and more specialized education - than in the past.

The high cost of college and crushing college debt load means we are failing to invest in the long-term employment success of too many of our young people. These are the workers we will need if we are to have a robust 21st economy that works for all of us.

Obtaining a postsecondary education is the best guarantee for entering and staying in the middle class. The unemployment rate for college-educated adults—at 2.8 percent—is less than half the rate for those who never finished postsecondary education. Someone who has completed a bachelor’s degree earns double the median wages of a high school graduate; for individuals who have completed an associate degree, wages are 39 percent higher. For many, higher education is the key to a middle-class life.

And for the one in four households with children where Mom is the sole or primary breadwinner, the pay gap that exists across the board in every occupation is a special burden. Regardless of the latest research that suggests that the U.S. economy has improved, women and their families are still struggling to make income match outgo. Better jobs would make that balancing act easier.

The Gender Wage Gap Is Wider in States with a Low Minimum Wage
While no state has yet closed the gender wage gap, places like New York and Delaware are getting closer, with working women earning nearly 89 cents to men’s dollar. But in states like Wyoming and Louisiana, the gender wage gap was just 64.4 cents and 68 cents, respectively.

These stark state-by-state differences aren’t coincidences. In states where the minimum wage increased in 2015, workers with the lowest incomes—those whose wages were in the bottom 10 percent—experienced much faster wage growth than workers in states where no minimum-wage change took place. This wage growth was particularly strong for women, who make up two-thirds of low-wage workers. And in the 21 states where low-wage workers are stuck at $7.25 an hour for the seventh year in a row, the gender pay gap is nearly 25 percent wider than in higher minimum-wage states.

Better jobs would/could:
·       Further reduce poverty rates
·       Establish a new normal that improves job quality and work conditions
·       Raise wages and ensure fair pay practices
·       Create care-centered work policies to address work-family needs
·       Restore and grow the Middle Class
·       Reduce the social costs to local and state governments from low-wage jobs with no benefits create

So, ask the candidates for office in the elections you will be deciding this November about their plans to improve work and create better jobs. See if their economic priorities match yours before you enter the voting booth!

Stay in touch with all the important economic security issues this fall as we #PowHerTheVote. Learn more and sign up at http://www.powherny.org/powher-the-vote/.

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