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Working and Poor in the USA
“Our nation, so richly endowed with natural resources and with a capable and industrious population, should be able to devise ways and means of insuring to all our able-bodied men and women, a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1937
Millions of people in the US work and are still poor. Here are eight points that show why the US needs to dedicate itself to making work pay.
One. How many people work and are still poor?
In 2011, the US Department of Labor reported at least 10 million people worked and were still below the unrealistic official US poverty line, an increase of 1.5 million more than the last time they checked. The US poverty line is $18,530 for a mom and two kids. Since 2007 the numbers of working poor have been increasing. About 7 percent of all workers and 4 percent of all full-time workers earn wages that leave them below the poverty line.
Two. What kinds of jobs do the working poor have?
One third of the working poor, over 3 million people, work in the service industry. Workers in other occupations are also poor: 16 percent of those in farming; 11 percent in construction; and 11 percent in sales.
Three. Which workers are most likely to be working and still poor?
Women workers are more likely to be poor than men. African American and Hispanic workers are about twice as likely to be poor as whites. College graduates have a 2 percent poverty rate while workers without a high school diploma have a poverty rate 10 times higher at 20 percent.
Four. What about benefits for low wage workers?
Ten percent of US workers earn $8.50 an hour or less according to the US Department of Labor. About 12 percent have health care and about 12 percent have retirement benefits. Nearly one in four get paid sick leave and less than half get paid vacation leave.
Five. What rights do the working poor have?
Most workers have a right to earn at least the federal minimum wage of $7.50 an hour. Tipped employees are supposed to get at least $2.13 each hour from their employer and if the worker does not earn enough in tips to make the $7.50 minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. People who work more than 40 hours in a workweek are entitled to one and one-half of their regular pay for each hour of overtime.
Six. What about wage theft from the working poor?
Many low wage workers have part of their earnings stolen by their employers. Examples include not paying people the full minimum wage, not paying required overtime, stealing from tipped employees, or fraudulently classifying workers as independent contractors. A survey of over 4000 low wage workers in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York conducted by university and non-profit researchers found: 26 percent of the workers were paid less than the minimum wage in the previous week, a majority were underpaid by more than $1 an hour; a significant number worked overtime the previous week and were not paid the legally required overtime; many were required to come early or stay late and work “off the clock” and were not paid for it; almost a third of the tipped workers were not paid the minimum wage and more than 1 in 10 tipped workers had some of their money stolen by their employer or supervisor.
Seven. What is a living wage in the US?
Dr. Amy Glasmeier of Penn State University has created a Living Wage Calculator that estimates the hourly wage needed to pay the cost of living for low wage families in the US. It breaks down the cost of living by state and locality across the nation. In New Orleans, a mom with one child needs to earn $17.52 to make ends meet. In New York, the mom with one child should earn $19.66 to make it. If we now realistically calculate the number of people who work and do not earn a living wage, the numbers of working poor in the US skyrocket to several tens of millions.
Eight. What about jobs for the unemployed and underemployed?
The US Labor Department estimated recently that 13 million people were unemployed. Another 8 million people were working part-time but wanted full-time work. Even more millions who are not working are not counted in those numbers because they have been unemployed so long.
A study by Northeastern University found that in the poorest families, unemployment is nearly 31 percent. Underemployment is also much more of a problem in poor homes, with over 20 percent of those workers reporting they are working part-time but seeking full-time work.
Our nation can do so much more. We say our country values work. It is time to do something about it.
If the US truly values work, we need to support the millions of our sisters and brothers who are low wage workers. Steps needed include: raising the minimum wage to a living wage; protecting workers from getting ripped off; making it easier for workers to organize together if they choose to; and creating jobs, public jobs if necessary, so that everyone who wants to work can do so. Many are already working on these justice issues.
For those interested in learning more about this, see the websites of Interfaith Worker Justice, the National Employment Law Project, and the National Jobs for All Coalition.
By Bill Quigley. Bill teaches law at Loyola University New Orleans and is Associate Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Thanks to Rob Dordan and Kim Bobo for help with this. A version with sources is available. You can reach Bill at quigley77@gmail.com
31 Comments so far
Show AllThe U.S. does truly value work. It just doesn't value pay. Like most people, I've heard how you need to work hard everyday to be "successful". The people throughout history that worked hard everyday their entire lives were slaves and servants. Were they successful? The U.S. of A. was built on slavery and servitude and the ruling class wants to go back to that. Eroding the social safety net is a good start. And not too many people I know are willing to pay more for consumer products today just so we can avoid tomorrows indentured servitude. Although, they seem quite content to pay more when corporate profits and executive compensation and bonuses are at stake. Have fun educating those people.
>>The U.S. of A. was built on slavery and servitude and the ruling class wants to go back to that.<<
The U.S. of A. was built on slavery and servitude and genocide and the ruling class wants to go back to that.
That's exactly it. You got it.
Very interesting to see this kind of article in the U.S., yet says nothing about illegal workers. I doubt this article will generate much interest aside from partisan nonsense because this website has more of a high-brow readership. I would like to be pleasantly surprised.
I prefer not to use the "i" word, since it's a slur, and instead use "undocumented" workers. Otherwise, your point is well taken - that to consider statistics of working and poor in America, you have to include the large population of undocumented immigrant workers.
Undocumented workers are not the problem--it's those who employ them. The laws are backwards. Make it a crime to hire them, and they won't be here looking for work they can't find.
The employers of undocumented workers all are Republicans. Note that the Republicans are completely unwilling to actually "do" anything about the situation. Then as was found when you cut back on undocumented workers, the farmers can't get anyone to pick their crops for what the farmers are willing to pay for the work. Only the undocumented workers are willing to work in the fields for peon wages.
The slurs against people from other countries show a lack of humanity. Why should anyone be given any privelege because of the location of his mother at the time of his birth? Please stop trashing the principle that ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL. There is no such person as an illegal person, but there are mean-spirited ideas that keep coming up in the land of the free and the home of the brave. And those workers who come here from other countries are often the victims of U$A foreign policy that destroyed the economy in their homeland.
"And those workers who come here from other countries are often the victims of U$A foreign policy that destroyed the economy in their homeland."
rosemarie:
Every government has the option of saying "no" to U.S. foreign policy. Furthermore, when it comes to the growing poverty we have seen over many decades while "the few" elites have increased their incomes by 300 +% globally, we really need to look and begin focusing on unelected ruling bodies like the WTO, WORLD BANK, IMF and others.
Gail... The people in the other countries usually have no say. They are the innocent victims of USA foreign policy. US history in Haiti is a perfect example - but we have done things like that around the world - USA exceptionalism that has exploited innocent victims and continues to do that.
USers complain about those from Mexico crossing the border, but ignore what the US did to agriculture in Mexico. What the USA did to the Chagossians is a crime against humanity. Will anyone here ever be prosecuted...NO - we are immune from prosecution. How can anyone support a country that is responsible for the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children??????
You frame the Illegal immigration issue as a clear cut humanitarian issue with the undocumented as the blameless victims and the documented US workers as the villians.
This is a vastly over-simplified view of the situation. Imperial policies destroy the livliehoods of millions in the 3rd world, but they also have destroyed the US working class.
Your perspective might be improved if you took a real look at how tens of millions of undocumented workers have underminned unions and the economic and political power of the US working class.
Interesting that socialist and communist countries do not allow illegal labor. They have very strict borders.
Our issues with illegal labor - meaning labor that violates American labor laws and protections for American workers - are complicit with countries that are NOT socialist or communist in their governments. They are "satellites" so to speak of capitalist powers that rely on their impoverished workers to enter the nation under "illegal" circumstances" and out-compete citizen laborers, break unions, and later on, fight a union battle as if they had never been on the "other side."
What, indeed, are the moral imperatives commanding either side in this so-called battle?
Meanwhile, there are 35 million American unemployed. And Walmart, among others, is on the side of unfettered, illegal immigration. You'd be amazed how many blithering Walmart idiots are screaming "racism" in the name of their cheap goods and cheap labor. They love their dark, uneducated, obsequious third world slaves who are so "good" to them. Who make them feel so magnanimous and Christian as they say "racist!" to Americans who want jobs.
Right on!
While there are many honest advocates calling attention to the plight of the undocumented, there are much more powerful capitalist exploiters who have thoroughly gamed this issue.
Valuing work is cool, but what is needed with more urgency is a better distribution of the things that work produces. Unemployment will inevitably rise considering that improvements in productivity (from, say, better technologies) exist in an environment in which, fundamentally, the needs of humans and the carrying capacity of our ecology reach a plateau. So at some point we don't need to produce "more" and yet productivity keeps increasing. Inevitably, over time the need for work has to go down. And that should be a good thing, but only as long as the fruits of labor are distributed rationally, i.e., to satisfy human needs and not to hoard excess wealth.
I agree. If anything, we need to produce fewer things. Always reflexively calling for more jobs masks the point that perhaps what we need to do--for our environment and for ourselves--is figure out how to build a society where the number of hours we "work" is not so valued, but the overall good that work carries, paid by the man or not.
If we could just get all the damned employees in this country to work for nothing the country would be a lot better off. That way the job creators would get it all and could use those profits to create more good non-paying jobs. We'll just call them internships with promises to pay once the internships are completed after 8-10 years.
Bill Quigley:
Thanks for using working moms as the standard example for what a livable wage looks like. They always have at least two jobs: raising their kids and working outside the home as well.
Unlike the U.S., many civilized countries subsidize (pay) women who raise their kids at home in terms of stipends, fully-paid childcare so they can do the normal things in life, and decent healthcare, etc.
Yet in the self-proclaimed "richest nation on Earth" none of these basic human requirements are met in any signficant way.
tj
No other developed country has a political party like our Republicans either. The Republican Party is now a "social darwinist" political party operating upon the ideals of Herbert Spencer where those who are not "successful" are considered "mistakes" of evolution and should die as soon as possible. I've seen a cartoon of the Republican elephant changed into a wooly mammoth of the Ice Age, which is about where the Neanderthals of the Republican Party belong.
As long as you think its just the Repugs & give the Dims a pass you will miss the big picture. Both parties [Repugs & Dims] are Corp Controlled, & corporate mentality is based on social Darwinistic thinking. But that thinking is reinforced by the Darwinistic [so-called evolutionary] model taught in school as the 'gold standard' of scientific theories- which many / most so-called 'liberals / leftists' uncritically & unquestioningly support.
Hey TJ, there are millions of working dads attempting to raise, or co-parent kids also.
You have a sexist conception of childcare.
deleted double posting,
sorry
tj
It's funny how Mr. Quigley points out a reputable study that suggests $17.52 to $19.66 an hour is the bare minimum for a living wage, yet another article here today by Ralph Nader calls for an increase of the minimum wage to only $10 an hour. I am more inclined to agree with Mr. Quigley's assessment, however it is nice to see that slave wages are at least getting some attention these days. Naturally none of this has been addressed in the primaries, the MSM or by our Commander-in-chief. All though raising the minimum wage is a no-brainer for stimulating the economy and narrowing the gap between the rich and poor, nothing bothers corporate America more than having to pay out decent wages for work done. Walmart is just one of the most famous examples of a corporation using its incredible wealth to buy lobbyists and politicians who promise to do whatever they can to drive down wages. Corporatism in its purest form always seeks enslavement, providing only the barest of necessities in order for their means of production to function properly, yet most people just don't seem to get it.
The minimum wage (allowing for inflation) was worth about $10 an hour back in 1968 and was the work of LBJ, Democrat. LBJ also created Medicare and Medicaid. The real decline in the minimum came with Ronald Reagan, who "whipped inflation on the backs of the poor". The last increase to the minimum wage was in January of 1981 when it rose to $3.35 an hour. The next increase was in 1990 with an increase of a whopping 15 cents to $3.50 an hour. The increase in the cost of living over this period meant that the minimum wage was more a "poverty wage" by 1990 than anything else. You will note that this was the work of Republicans, who are the enemies of the working poor, and have been so ever since the election of Ronald Reagan. So when people speak of a "class war", always remember that the Republicans are the ones who started it...
Good observation, Space Cadet...that substantial difference between Mr. Quigley's minimum living wage of $17.52 to $19.66 per hour and Mr. Nader's minimum wage (notice the very essential 'living' component is missing) of $10.00 per hour.
In the early eighties, after ten years of faithful employment as an electro/mechanical service/repair technician with a small family-owned business in St. Louis, MO that sold, installed and serviced time clocks, time accounting systems and parking lot gate equipment, my hourly wage finally made it to $10.00 per hour.
At a point I was considered one of the senior mechanical techs and had been cross-trained on much of the stand-alone electronic clocks and became one of the main helpers to the tech who did the parking equipment. My coworkers were quite respectful of me and the skills I brought to the table...even the owner, though he was sadly very old-fashioned and I think only gave me a "man's" job because I was a single mom who really needed an income and he felt guilty for initially discriminating against me. During my pre-hire interview he actually asked me why I wasn't seeking something a little more traditional, like an administrative or receptionist position.
Even though I was perhaps the most qualified, he originally gave the tech trainee job to a young man (eighteen years old..who after much costly training and less than eight months of mediocre work moved to California). Out of sympathy he had hired me at roughly the same time to work part-time doing the more womanly and less intellectual work of shipping/receiving and hoisting around fifty to seventy-five pound cases of time cards in and out of the stockroom...when I wasn't emptying waste-baskets, sweeping the floors and generally being the gopher as I paid my dues. I took this particular foot-in-the-door job because I didn't have many options and I really wanted the tech position
While doing a fairly good job at being the shipping/receiving clerk/gopher, I routinely spent my free moments and some off-clock time learning the tech stuff. By the time our young guy quit I was pretty ready to take over his work bench...which the owner sort of reluctantly agreed to.
My last year with the company we were charging $35.00 per hour for service on strictly mechanical equipment, $100 for the electronic/computer based equipment. I was being paid $10.00 per hour no matter what I worked on, whether in the shop or out in the field...while our official electronic/computer techs were paid closer to $20 except for the one woman account service tech who made around $17.00
At my ending pay of $10.00 per hour and dealing with a much lower cost of living than today, it was not at all easy to make ends meet as a single mom...even sharing expenses with a roommate. Same as when I was making $16.00 per hour (around 1999-2001). While at that rate of pay and with my daughter grown and out raising her own family (and I was again sharing expenses with a roommate), for the first time in my life all my bills got paid on time, I had a little extra at times to enjoy a nice restaurant or night out, my credit rating was good, I was even able to somewhat easily buy a new vehicle....but I was still not able to save or feel completely secure against the unforeseen health, job or other financial setback that would undo my little bit of upward momentum. Pretty much my only real salvation or slight cushion was the fairly dependable supplemental income I made as a musician.
That was but the first of quite a few similar jobs I've had and excelled at over the course of my work life. I'm now fifty-seven and pretty much unable to physically do many of the things I once could easily, expertly do. At the peak of my work life I earned just under $16.00 per hour.....at the time of my last full-time job (been unemployed for over a year now) I was earning $9.27 providing direct support to adults with developmental disabilities.....finally, a more typical woman's job.
I've not subjected you all to this long tale to boast of my mechanical aptitude or even to complain too much about the pay inequality women and minorities were and still are subjected to. It has been to relate but one of millions of similar stories you might get from single working moms struggling to make it, whatever their career or work entails...who would likely disagree with both authors as to what a proper living wage is.
In 1982 $10.00 per hour was not really a living wage for a single working mother of one. In 2001 $15.93 (fairly close to Mr. Quigley's lowest acceptable figure for today) was not really a living wage for a single working mother of one.
None of the figures being discussed by the two authors...who I respect very much, but who both likely have incomes a little closer to the 1%ers than to mine...would enable a single working mother of one to easily live and properly nurture herself and her child in 2012.
You forgot people are now told to work until they are 70.
Yeah, that's so we drop dead a month later so they can keep the social security for themselves.
Yes. The USA was built on slavery, indentured servitude, and the genocide of the native people already here. Note that the Founding Fathers didn't allow the ordinary working people to vote when the country was founded. You had to be a "property" owner. (Income producing property actually) The Republicans want to return the USA to that portion of our history by restricting the right to vote. By making it as difficult as possible for poor people, people of color, students, and senior citizens to vote. They know if they can restrict the vote, they are more likely to be able to win elections. And once they have control, you can be assured that they will use their political power for their own ends! And use the armed forces to retain control! We're already seeing something of this with the reaction to the OWS. And it is likely to get worse if these protests start having more effect...
BQ, thanx for this sympathetic piece, actually your democracy now interviews are also quite impressive. But CCR aclu natl lawyers guild have huge problems you need to openly confess and confront
what CCR is missing is its ability to call out your own law schools, discipline wayward over billing lawyers, bar associations and courts for actively participating in denial of basic rights to us nationals. I have called your national headquarters and received a run around for seeking legal support. And despite your PR success, we have NDAA, patriot act, military commissions, the near absence of employment lawyers willing to challenge the one sided freak show courts have become in pandering to employers
Quigley asks:
"Which workers are likely to be poor?" Unfortunately his answer omits one of the highest correlative factors: you're most likely to be poor if you grew up in a household that was poor.
Yes, poverty is often inherited - just as wealth is. I have known a few 'trust fund' people. They have a mind-set and values that are hard to explain.
I have also known a lot of 'poor' people. Many are the hardest working people around.. also the smartest. It is a myth that there is any connection between intelligence and wealth.
Just the way the massas like us: poor, illiterate, hungry, homeless, unemployed, sick.